


Kua'ino

by CeilidhFraser



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Hate Crimes, M/M, Serial Killer, Undercover As Gay, Undercover Missions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2015-08-01
Packaged: 2018-04-12 10:08:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 31,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4475381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeilidhFraser/pseuds/CeilidhFraser
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens when a psychopath is killing Gay couples on Oahu?  There is only one way to save them, but will Steve and Danny convince him of their nuptials?  Will he take the bait?  Will they be able to save themselves?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kua'ino

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic in this fandom, and without the assistance of my oft muse, Karen and the grammar wrangling abilities of the heroic Erica this fic may never have seen the light of day. Any remaining errors are mine. Hope you like it.

Asuyo stood against a tall tree. His obedient bull terrier at his feet, he reached down and scratched her head between the ears and watched as she wriggled in joy and waited. Today was supposed to be about a fun day of hunting, finding a boar for the Imu pit he had dug just after dawn. The discovery he and his buddy had made two hours ago had blown that plan to pieces. Nervous, he glanced across the narrow clearing. Ass, as his friends called him, ran his hand over the small leather pouch on his hip. His fingers twitched with the need to grab some pakalolo from the pouch and roll himself a joint. He resisted the urge, not only because the scent lingered like a bitch, but because more to the point, the police were on their way. That wasn't the only reason, of course; he watched TV, a lot of TV, and he’d seen enough NCIS, CSI and all their variations to know a crime scene. As he stood staring into the milky, sightless eyes, he knew beyond doubt that this was a crime scene.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Steve hiked through the rainforest, his eyes scanning the surroundings as he talked to Chin on the phone, simultaneously holding back low lying shrubbery and ferns and absently listening to Danny’s incessant bitching as he walked behind him. Just ahead of them, the track they were following widened and Steve’s eyes narrowed as he took in the scene they were approaching.

“Jesus!” Danny’s hiss of surprise as he looked up caused Steve to stop dead in his tracks and turn back to look at his partner.

“What?” Steve finished his call with Chin and disconnected, waiting for a response from Danny.

“Oh nothing, Steven, first thing I like to see every morning is a man skewered to a tree.”

Steve scowled at him, before he turned back to the scene, “Are you done?” 

“No.”

“Can we do our jobs now?”

Danny ignored Steve and shouldered past him on the trail. 

As Steve reached the end of the trail, he realised that it was just a space where several trees had died, naturally or maybe a lightning strike looking at the charred stump of one tree. The gap in the rainforest canopy, and the sunlight that introduced, had created a small lush grotto in the midst of the dense tree cover. What should have been a peaceful little oasis was now crawling with crime scene techs. However, that wasn’t what stole his attention. 

A man was pinned to a large Queensland Maple tree. Not just pinned, but hanging from the thick trunk by a carbon composite arrow. The victim looked to have been in good physical shape, tall and muscular, dusty blond hair. The strangest thing, however? He was clad only in a pair of grey Calvin Klein boxer briefs. Shaking his head in disbelief, Steve stalked across the clearing to consult with Max, whom he’d only just noticed.

“What have we got Max?” he asked.

“I should suspect that is obvious, Commander.” Max looked at him briefly before pushing his glasses higher up his nose. “From my preliminary investigations, I can tell you that the man was struck by the arrow, a carbon composite Mutiny Slasher 350 arrow. I would suggest fired by a crossbow. It appears to have hit him, if not directly through his heart, close enough to pierce the pericardium. It’s my current assumption that he was still alive at that point and was left here to bleed out.”

“Someone left him here to die like that?” Danny exclaimed.

Steve was so engrossed in listening to Max and looking more closely at their victim that he hadn’t heard Danny walk up behind them.

“That would appear to be correct, Detective.”

“That’s rough.” 

“I shall be able to inform you more accurately when I’ve had time to examine the remains back in my office.”

“Thanks Max.”

“CSU got anything Danny?” Steve asked as they turned away from Max.

“Not much. Very little disturbance to the surroundings, remains were found by the two locals over there.” Danny gestured to the two men sitting on a fallen limb several feet outside the clearing, a large bull terrier lolling on the ground between them. “They claim to have come here looking to hunt a feral pig to bury in one of those ridiculous underground ovens.”

“Imu.” 

“Whatever.” Danny flipped his hand at Steve. “Asoyu Hakasaki and Kolea Lum. Both local. HPD has been holding them until we got here so we can have a chat.”

Steve frowned as he listened to Danny, something tweaking his memory, until a grin split his face and he walked ahead of Danny towards the men.

“Ass!” he exclaimed, extending his hand to shake. The other man rose and clasped hands with Steve, happily pulling him into an embrace, each man hugging the other. 

“Stevie! Bruddah, how you doing?”

“Steven?” Danny cleared his throat, waiting for the embrace to end. “Is there something you’d like to tell me?”

“Ass is an old friend.” Steve grinned.

Danny’s eyebrows almost shot over the back of his head as he addressed the man in question. “I’m sorry? Ass? Did your mother name you that?”

“Kinda, bro.” Ass responded, “It’s the only sensible way to shorten my name.” He shrugged.

“I’d call it a lot of things; sensible is not one of them.”

“That’s how we met, D.” Steve explained. “I think it was our sophomore year,”

“Your sophomore, my freshman.” Ass interrupted.

“That’s right.” Steve remembered. “Ass wasn’t particularly good with his science and, you know how cruel kids can be, the ‘cool’ kids would taunt Ass, calling him DumbAss and things like that.”

“So Steve the science guy stepped in, didn’t he?” Danny supplied, already knowing the answer, giving his partner a fond look.

“I wasn’t going to put up with that crap, D.”

“Stevie not only stepped in and sicked the football team on them, he tutored me for the rest of the year until my family moved to the Big Island.” Ass explained.

“Not long after they moved, I got sent to the mainland. We kept in touch for a while, but drifted. I always wondered what happened to you guys.

Ass shrugged. “Got married young. Still together. The pig was supposed to be for my son’s 18th birthday.”

“So we can step off the crack in memory lane then, can we Ass?” Danny asked.

“I’ve heard them all Detective.” Ass responded.

“We were hunting a boar, big one, would have fed the whole family, even the distant aunties, but we kind of lost it when we saw him. Do you know who he is?”

“Do you?” Danny questioned.

“What are you saying, haole?” Kolea spoke for the first time, turning his suddenly angry gaze on Danny.

“And there it is.” Danny’s hands started their agitated gymnastics. “Every time you people get your grass skirts in a knot you bring out the H word.”

“Danny!” Steve exclaimed sharply. “Are you done?”

“Not even close.” Danny exhaled, the fight seemed to go out of him. “I’m just over it.”

“Think about how we feel, haole.” Kolea responded.

“Ko, stop it.” Ass put a hand on his friend’s arm. “Steve is good people; he wouldn’t tolerate a smart ass haole that doesn’t care. Give the man a chance.”

“Danny might be a smartass mainlander, but he knows his job and there isn’t a better detective on the island.” Steve agreed with Ass’ statement.

“Can you guarantee me that we won’t connect either of you with the body?” Danny asked, his voice forced.

Ass waited until Danny looked at him before he answered. “I can. We never got closer to the corpse than fifty feet. As soon as we saw it, we stopped. We didn’t want to contaminate a possible crime scene, so I stayed to maintain the integrity and Ko went to phone for help. We couldn’t get cell reception here, so he walked back out to my truck. We stayed over here while we waited for you lot to arrive.”

“Good enough.” Steve nodded. “You can go, we’ll get your details from HPD if we need anything else.

Both men stood silently as they watched the two men gather their rifles and made their way back to the trail and away from the scene. Steve could see Danny was winding himself up, so he turned and set off for the Camaro giving his partner no choice but to follow him. He arrived at the vehicle prior to Danny and slipped into the driver’s seat. Minutes later, Danny eased himself into the passenger seat, fastened his seat belt and sat staring out the window. Steve started the car, and reversed, sneaking a peek at Danny out of the corner of his eye. When and only when he completed pulling out of the space and were driving down the rutted dirt road into the forest, did he dare to speak?

“Okay, D, what did I do this time?”

“Why would it be anything you’ve done?”

“Because I can practically see the steam venting from your ears.”

“How long have I been your partner, Steven?”

“Do you want it to the day or rounded up or down?”

“Surprise me.”

“Five years, give or take.”

“In that time, have we ever just blithely believed the first people on the scene?”

“It wasn’t blithely. I know Ass. He’s a good man. He doesn’t have that kind of crime in him.”

“He’s out here trying to obliterate Miss Piggy. Don’t tell me he can’t kill”

“Miss Piggy? Really D? Wild boars are not cute.”

Danny gasped in mock horror. “I never knew that!” Shooting his partner a glare that was heavy with sarcastic intent.

“Killing a pig is a hell of a lot easier than killing a man, especially close quarters with a crossbow.”

“Then why can’t we keep them in the suspect pool. They clearly know how to kill. They know the forest; it’s not a leap to consider them.

“If Ass said that they didn’t do it, then I believe him.”

“And it’s all about your instincts isn’t it?”

“I didn’t say that, but he’s a good man.”

“Because you’re so close to him. You haven’t seen him in more than 20 years. Real strong finger you’ve got on that pulse.” Danny snorted.

“People don’t change their personality just like that.”

“No, but they can in twenty years babe.”

“He was probably my closest friend that year Danny. I know him, as well as I know you.”

“I get that you want to protect him, but you’ve got blinders on my friend. Big fat emotionally handicapped blinkers.”

Steve sighed, his jaw working hard as he bit back the comments that sat on the tip of his tongue. This was an old argument and he was really sick of Danny bringing it up. Just like he knew that if he commented, that would open the floodgates for Danny to run through the whole argument again.

“Bullfrog, your mother, Jenna. Do you want me to continue? Cath? People who you have heroically defended and they all proceeded to shit right in your emotionally compromised nest. Do I need to say anything else?”

“I’d really rather it if you didn’t.” Steve growled at him.

“I’m not being an asshole, Steve.” Danny’s voice softened. “You walk right into this every single time. You’re honourable and loving and giving and you walk straight into betrayal every single time because you are so damned loyal that it blinds you to the other possibilities.”

“Are you done?”

“No.” Danny sighed. “But I’m done with seeing you hurt. I don’t want to cross you, but I will be running background on both of them until I’m satisfied.”

“Will it make you happy if it’s them?”

“No, but at least then we’ll know.”

Steve didn’t respond making the trip back to headquarters a long and silent affair. When they arrived, they separated at the door and retreated to their respective offices. As Steve broached his door, his phone rang. Plucking it from his pocket, he pressed to connect the call.

“McGarrett.” He barked.

“Commander, I have some preliminary results for you, I will email them to you post haste.”

“Thanks Max. Do we have an ID yet?”

“Indeed we do Commander. All pertinent details should be in your mailbox now.”

“Thanks.”

Steve stalked over to the smart desk, accessed his email, and flicked the attachments from Max’s email onto the screen.

“Case, people.” He called his staff loudly. His eyes scoured the screen as he waited for the team to assemble around him.

“Danny and I attended the scene this morning.” As he spoke he flicked crime scene photos onto the overhead screens. “This is Sgt Ed Travascus. COD was an arrow piercing his pericardium. He bled out internally. No family but a partner. A male partner. Max estimates that he’s been there for between 36 and 48 hours.”

“Any suspects?” Lou asked.

“The informants according to Danny.” Steve ground out.

“That’s not what I meant and you know it. We need to check them out to eliminate them.” Danny responded on a sigh.

“Hate crime?” Chin asked.

“Maybe, but I didn’t get that vibe.” Steve shrugged. 

“We need to talk to the partner, Kono, you and Lou can look into that. Chin check into his financials, all background on him. There must be a reason he was targeted.” Steve resolved. “Danny and I will talk to his CO.” 

Having information about the victim gave Steve something to do, a way to work off the angry energy that had filled him since Danny questioned his instincts. He could see his point. It wasn’t that his logic was flawed, it was more that he knew, to an extent, that he was being played or used for his friendship. He was the only one able to help, however. What sort of asshole would he be if he turned his back on people, no, friends and family, when they needed his help? Watching his team disperse to the tasks he had assigned them, he was still for a moment, but with a start he walked towards the door. 

“Coming, Daniel?” he threw over his shoulder without looking back. If he had looked back, he would have noticed the quizzical look Danny shot his way before scurrying after his friend and boss. By the time Danny caught up with him, Steve was already sliding into the driver’s seat. 

Steve waited until Danny was in the vehicle before he started the engine, listening to the throaty purr of the powerful engine. Silence filled the car as they drove; not the angry, oppressive silence of their earlier journey, but for a time, neither man seemed inclined to break the quiet possibly reigniting the discussion.

“Listen, I’m sorry I flew off the handle before.” Steve grudgingly spoke, his gaze fixed on the road in front of them.

“I get why you’d be angry, really I do.” Danny responded.

“I shouldn’t have snapped like that.” Steve shrugged.

“I wasn’t maligning your abilities.”

“Really? I certainly sounded like it.” Steve cast a sidelong glance.

“Listen you oversized goof, I don’t know what is so hard for you to understand.”

“Explain it to me, detective.”

“It doesn’t matter, can we just drop it?”

“No. Explain to me what it is I don’t understand.”

Danny sat silent for long minutes, so long that Steve thought that he wasn’t going to answer.

“I care about you.” Danny shrugged. “Maybe too much.”

“What does that mean?” Steve’s brows furrowed deeply.

“It doesn’t matter.” Danny waved his hand through the air. “What matters is that I can’t take watching you give away little pieces of your soul for people that don’t give a damn about you. I’m not going to do it anymore.”

Steve was stunned into silence, rolling Danny’s words around in his head, trying to piece together a thought that felt like it was just outside of his reach. Tangled in his own thoughts, his own confusion his biggest problem, he glanced at Danny.

“Thanks, man.” He spoke sincerely as he pulled into Schofield.

Steve exited the car and waited for Danny, as they walked into the building, Steve matched his stride to Danny’s shorter gait.

“We good?” Danny touched his arm, forcing Steve to turn to face him.

Steve nodded tightly; leaning forward, he pulled Danny into a tight embrace and released him. “We’re good.”

They waited briefly for the commanding officer to fit them into his schedule. Ushered into his office by a sharply pressed corporal, Steve and Danny took a seat in front of the desk of a man dressed in camo printed BDU’s. Two small flags hung from crossed poles behind him. His brass and onyx name plate sat on the desk directly in front of him, flanked by some heavy black paper trays. General Howard Fitzgibbon leaned forward his arms resting on a pristine desk blotter and whilst not smiling at them, at least he didn’t appear as hostile as military types usually were with them.

“What can I do for you, gentlemen?” he asked.

“I’m afraid we have some bad news, General.” Steve started.

“That’s never a good opening.”

“I apologise, Sir.” Steve cleared his throat quietly. “This morning some civilians discovered a body in the forest on the leeward side. The fingerprints revealed that the victim was Sgt Ed Travascus.”

“It can’t be.”

“I can assure you, General. There is no question.” Danny responded.

“Travascus is no longer under my command. He was ordered to report for duty in Fort Hood, Texas in ten days.”

“Do you know when he left?”

“He asked for a transfer to a different base, I’m not the man’s travel director.” The General responded. “I take it you are aware of his proclivities?”

“You’re referring to his sexuality?” Danny had heard the way the general sneered out the man part of his statement, giving him no doubt that this General was the bully at the top of the homophobic ladder in this great big testosterone filled boys club. Danny couldn’t help the snide tone in his own voice. Goddamned homophobic military assholes.

“Of course I am.” He leaned back in his seat, folding his hands in front of him. “He was being badly hazed by some of the other men, our policy is if you’re going to do the crime, you do the time, but it was apparently too hard for him and he asked for a different posting to start ‘fresh’. His partner resigned from his posting earlier in the year. I will put you in touch with the quartermaster and housing. They should have more information that could be pertinent to your enquiries.”

“We would appreciate that General.”

“Now if you don’t mind, I’m a very busy man.” The General picked up the intercom phone near his left elbow.

Knowing a dismissal when they heard it, both men stood.

“Thank you for your time, sir.” Steve responded sharply as they both left the room.

They paused briefly when summoned by the Doorkeeper Corporal to gather the information they needed to find the quartermaster and the housing division, Steve smirking as he watched Danny’s agitation levels inflating.

“Did you have to put up with that shit?” Danny fumed as they walked towards the buildings they needed.

“The military is a place inhabited by men, Danny. Whether it’s right or wrong, you can’t change the opinions of bigots. Why do you think DADT existed for so long? Just because it’s been rescinded doesn’t mean you can change their outlook. Did I suffer it? No, but I’m careful and private. Only my very closest friends knew who I was seeing. Did I stamp it out in my vicinity? Of course I fucking did.”

“Wait.” Danny grabbed Steve by the arm, his mind derailed by Steve’s apparent admission.

“What?” Steve frowned as he turned to face his partner.

“Did you just come out?” Danny frowned at him.

“Would it bother you if I did?” Steve’s cheeks pinked as he started to explain. “You seemed to be very accepting and that would be a complete double standard on your part if you’re going to bump on that.”

Danny stood silently for a few seconds, seemingly weighing his words in his own head. In the end he looked up and into Steve’s eyes. 

“Thank you.”

Steve brow puckered in confusion. “What for?”

“Trusting me with that.”

“If I can’t trust you, who can I trust, D?”

“That, my friend, is a good point.” Danny agreed, “What are we hanging around here for, aren’t we looking for the poop deck or something?” he started walking towards their destination.

“Quartermaster, Daniel; the poop deck is on a ship.” Steve groused as he followed Danny.

Talking to the Quartermaster got them nowhere fast. The man was an officious bastard who had no concern about the future movements of a man that ‘didn’t belong in this man’s army’. Both Steve and Danny emerged from the office frustrated with his attitude and left thinking that perhaps this was a wasted trip. Holding the door open, Danny ushered Steve into the housing office before him where Steve waited at the counter until Danny was by his side before flashing his badge at the Corporal who was waiting for them.

“Corporal Tsai.” Steve checked his name on his uniform as he spoke. “We are with Five-0 and wondered when was the last time you had any contact with Sergeant Ed Travascus.”

“If you know where he is you can send him to me? I’ve just had to have his house packed up and put in storage. The new tenants move in next week and Ed and Leon have made my job even harder because they couldn’t be assed to pack up their own shit.”

“That could be because he was found dead this morning.” Danny replied.

“Serious?” the corporal blanched, “Fuck. What happened?”

“We’re currently investigating.” 

“Oh my God, does Leon know? He’ll be devastated.”

“That would be his partner?” Steve questioned.

“Not partner. Husband. They were married on their last leave. Leon was a nurse when he enlisted; he made corporal, got himself a spot in the base hospital. He wasn’t cut out for the army. I always thought he only enlisted because it was the only place they could build a life together. He left the service as soon as his time was up, specifically so they could be married and maybe then some of the shit that was going on here would stop.”

“You knew Ed and Leon well?” Danny asked, glad to find someone on base that wasn’t a homophobic prick.

“Not like we were best buds or anything, but yeah we chatted, ate together in the mess, and were close enough that I got to see the wedding photos. There were too many assholes gunning for him on base.” He sat back against the desk behind him. “I can’t believe he’s dead. Leon will be shattered.”

“Do you know where we can find him?”

“Neither of them have any family, they only had each other. Leon was from New Jersey. I can pull his past addresses for you if you want.”

“That would be great, thanks.” Danny nodded.

“I’ve been trying to contact both of them for days. Eddie’s phone goes straight to message bank. I stopped trying Leon when we found his phone while I was supervising packing their house up. If it helps, Leon was working at Queens Medical centre, but had resigned and as far as I knew he was finishing up last Friday. They were having a farewell dinner at their favourite restaurant.”

“You’ve been very helpful Corporal Tsai, if you remember anything else, please contact us.” Steve handed him a business card.

~**~*~*~**~

By the time they had returned to headquarters after an almost silent, thoughtful drive, they found their three teammates in deep conversation around the smart table.

“Hey Boss!” Kono exclaimed, facing towards the entrance, she was the first one to see them push through the glass door, “you’re not going to like what we’ve found.”

“Can’t be worse than the homophobic assholes at Schofield.” Danny muttered.

“What happened?” Chin asked.

“Doesn’t matter now. What have you got?” Steve stepped closer to the overhead screens and squinted slightly as he scanned the information on the screen.

“When we tried to find the partner, Leon Whitmer, we can find no trace of him past last Thursday. He missed his last shift at Queens, where he worked as a nurse.”

“In trying to locate him, we checked the missing persons list. Whilst I wasn’t expecting to find them, I was surprised to find what I did.” Chin continued.

“Spit it out buddy.” Danny prompted, his hands slashing through the air as he gestured for Chin to hurry up.

“There are two previous couples on the missing persons.”

“Two?” Steve’s voice sounded strangled to his own ears.

“I’m suspicious; the victimology is all over the place, but I couldn’t afford to pass it over. It’s too much of a coincidence.” Chin nodded.

“What do you mean?” Danny frowned.

“The first couple are lesbians, Sharon Gordon and Peta Lewis, were reported missing 6 weeks ago. Their landlord went to collect their rent from them and they weren’t there; doors were open, signs of a disturbance. She went back two days later and nothing had been touched, so she reported them missing. The second couple, straight, Derek and Prissy Veeboer, were listed when their neighbours reported them for animal abuse. They hadn’t been seen for at least six days. And that brings us to Ed and Leon.”

“Any commonalities with any of the couples?” Steve folded his arms across his chest and looked at the pictures that Kono had flicked onto the overhead screens.

“Only the one and that’s the part that is odd.” Kono acknowledged. “One part of each couple was military. Not the same branch, but still military. Prissy is Coast Guard, Sharon is Air Force and then Ed was Army.”

“Smart.” Steve nodded, “Different branches would dilute the possibility of linking them.”

“You’re going to take this all to heart now, aren’t you?” Danny sighed.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Steve denied Danny’s claim.

“Which is SEALspeak for ‘Of course I am Danno’.” Kono piped up.

Steve turned to glare at Kono, his mouth opened to retort, but before he could vocalise his phone started to ring. Pulling it out of his back pocket, he glanced at the screen, his lips pressed into a thin line as he accepted the call.

“Yes Governor?” he answered quickly as he walked away from his team and into his own office.

The team stood around the tech desk, surreptitiously glancing at Steve as he carried out, what they considered to be, a very animated conversation. At the conclusion of the call, Steve pushed his phone into his back pocket. He stood with his back to the team, one hand running through his hair, his shoulders slumped. Unable to leave him to suffer on his own for another minute, Danny pushed through his office door.

“Bad news?” he questioned.

“Denning wants a workable solution to this problem. In thirty minutes.”

“How the fuck does he expect that? We only caught this clusterfuck this morning.”

“Some official on a tourism board got wind of it, wants it fixed before it affects the trade. Apparently they’ve already decided it’s a gay hate crime and decided that ‘that’ clientele will go elsewhere to spend their money. Denning himself wants it cleared up yesterday, it’s giving the Island a bad name.”

“What? It had a good name?” Danny grinned weakly as he pushed hard on a familiar button.

“Not today, Danno.” Steve huffed and turned to look at Danny. “Listen, I have a thought, but you’re not going to like it.”

“When do I ever like your half-baked shenanigans?” Danny almost chuckled as he followed his fearless leader out of the office. Steve waited for the team to reassemble before he spoke. He looked at each of his team members, while trying to fill in the gaps in the plan that was coming together in his head, wondering just which one of them was going to have the strongest objection to his idea.

“What’s the plan, brah?” Chin enquired casually, looking for all the world like he didn’t want to have anything to do with whatever was going to come from Steve’s mouth at the moment.

“The strongest links we have at the moment are married, gay couples with a military component. Are we agreed?” Steve explained. He waited briefly, acknowledging his team’s agreement. “We have no way of knowing if or when he’s going to find another target. I propose that we give him one. Loudly and proudly.”

“You can’t be serious?” Lou exclaimed. “At worst, that’s suicide. At best, it’s threading yourself on a hook and waiting to be eaten.”

“Isn’t that the same scenario?” Danny scowled across the table at Lou.

“This isn’t a discussion, people. Obviously Kono is off the table. I’m not going to order any of you, but I need one of you to volunteer to be my undercover husband.”

“Not that I’m not feeling part of the team, but nobody, at least nobody in their right mind, whether they know me and my beautiful wife or not, is going to believe that I could ever be smitten with you, man. To start with, you’re not my type. Secondly, you seriously don’t have enough junk in that trunk for me to even notice it.”

Steve nodded thoughtfully, resisting the urge to look over his shoulder at his own ‘trunk’, trying to measure its shortcomings. Looking at Chin, his brows furrowed thoughtfully as he watched some sort of silent communication between him and Danny. 

The next thing he knew, Danny heaved a huge sigh. “I’m in.”

“Are you sure D?” Steve pressed.

“Half of this pineapple infested rock thinks we’re married already. We’re always together anyway. And just to round things out, what would a case be without you trying to kill me.”

“I don’t try to kill you, that’s the bad guys, and I always… always try to keep myself between you and them.” 

“You aren’t bulletproof, ergo that isn’t much help to getting me shot.”

“I’m going to suggest to the Governor that for these purposes, I’m leaving the task force and returning to active duty. I’m also going to suggest that we throw in some media hoopla so that if he’s looking for a target, we’re there for the taking.”

“Because what would Tuesday be without big, blinking, neon targets on our chests, right Babe?”

Steve frowned at Danny, tilting his head like a confused puppy, “It’s Thursday?”

“The point was the target, not the day.” Danny shook his head in disbelief.

“The rest of you keep digging. Danny and I have an appointment with the Governor.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Danny was towed along in Steve’s wake, listening with more and more unease at the growth of Steve’s plan. The Governor was in total agreement with the proposal and, in his eagerness to add truth and realism to their plot, he had thrown a good deal of his constituent’s money at them to ensure that every detail was taken care of, right down to an official photographer. That was how they found themselves in a television studio at ten sharp the next morning, Steve in his dress blues, Danny in a lemon button down shirt with grey tie, the one that Steve knew Grace had given to her father last Christmas. After a brief stop in make-up, they had been shuttled to wait in the green room.

“Are you okay, D?” Steve murmured as he shuffled closer to Danny on the sofa.

“No.” he hissed. “I spent last night trying to explain to my mother why I didn’t tell her how ‘close’ we had gotten while she was still on the island and listening to her kvetching about how she was going to tell Dad and my sisters, who apparently all already knew I was in love. Not just in love, but in love with you. And I don’t even want to think about how the call to Rachel went down. Because I’ve got to tell you, my ex ‘wife’ thinks it’s fucking hilarious that we’re getting hitched. I couldn’t even get simple words out of her. All I got was wheezing laughter and comments about toy boys and twinks and giggling comments about watching.” His hands flew about in him, making frantic air quotes and windmilling as he spoke.

“Did you tell Grace?”

“My monkey thinks the sun rises and sets from your beach, Steven, all she wanted to know is if she gets a bedroom at your house now, and how soon is too soon to call you Daddy. How this ends is going to break her little heart.”

“What can I do?” Steve asked, his eyes filled with concern.

“Nothing, Steven, not a thing.” Danny slumped back into the sofa.

“I didn’t do this deliberately, D. It’s the most expeditious way to stop this bastard killing anyone else.”

“I know that, okay?” Danny responded with a grim smile.

“Can you do this?” Steve looked at him, holding Danny’s gaze. “I need to know now, Danny, before we start this. We fuck it up, he might switch targets.”

“I’m a professional, Steven. I’ll be the best little wife you’ve ever had.”

“You’re forgetting that I’ve never had one.”

“Not forgetting…”

Before Steve could respond, a young woman wearing a headset poked her head through the door.

“Five minutes, gentlemen.” She advised them then left again.

Danny stood and straightened his tie. “Get up here you big lug.”

Steve pushed to his feet. Danny reached up and brushed his uniform shoulders gently, ran his hands down the front of the jacket to straighten the slight creases, then reached up and played with the knot of his tie. “You always jack up your tie, babe.”

Steve responded, his voice hoarse even to his own ears. “What are you doing?”

“I love you, don’t I? I care about your appearance, babe. Welcome to life with someone who cares about you and wants to be with you.”

“There’s no-one here, D.” Steve strangled out.

“I’m getting into character.” Danny leaned up and smoothed Steve’s hair into its military styling with his fingers.

“Can you just stop it?” Steve groaned; Danny’s delicate touches and gentle affection was having an effect on Steve that he couldn’t control, and if he were honest with himself, desperately wanted. But Danny was just playing the game that Steve had forced him into. Steve needed to shut himself down and handle his shit before he gave his game away.

“Nope.” Danny picked Steve’s cover up off the sofa and handed it to him. “You’re casting aspersions on my ability and here you are the one that is going to fold like a cheap deck of cards.”

“Fold is it? Challenge accepted.” Steve answered his grinning partner. “Dear.”

The same young woman poked her head in the door again.  


“Ready, gentlemen?” she asked.

At their nods, she continued speaking. “If you’d like to follow me I’ll take you to the studio.” They followed her out of the door and down a long corridor, listening to her chat to them as they walked. “I think it’s beautiful what you two are doing. My baby brother is gay and I know that seeing what you’re doing will help him get the confidence to come out to our parents.”

“I’m glad we can help.” Danny commented. “Sharing love is a beautiful thing.” He reached across and slipped his hand into Steve’s lacing their fingers together, his thumb tracing circles on Steve’s palm.

Steve felt cold sweat break out on his forehead, and he knew that Danny could feel his clammy palms. He breathed a deep breath and struggled to remind himself that this wasn’t real. It was to catch a sadistic son of a bitch that was killing good people, not reality.

He was drawn out of his reverie as Danny pulled his hand back urging him to stop before he ran into the girls back.

“Good luck, gentlemen.” She chirped as she opened a large soundproof door and ushered them inside.

Entering the studio, they scanned the room briefly, focussing on the set that was dressed like a comfortable living room with a two-seater sofa and an armchair with a coffee table. Tropical ferns lined the walls of the box that encapsulated the room. Several large TV cameras surrounded the room. A slender man approached them and led them to the sofa, waiting for them to be seated before he and another man affixed small microphones to their clothing, hiding the battery packs to the backs of their pants.

Steve sat straight and tall, his fisted hands lying on his thighs as he waited. Danny sat beside him, watching warily. He’d seen Steve like this before, right before he was ready to lob a grenade or take down a yakuza death squad on his own. Danny reached across and placed a hand over Steve’s fist, almost laughing at the way Steve jumped nervously.

“Settle down, Super-SEAL. It’s only an interview.”

“But it’s an interview, Danny.” Steve turned startled eyes on his partner.

“That was eloquent, Babe.” Danny chuckled.

“Are you laughing at me?”

“Not at, Babe, with.” Danny leaned over and pressed a chaste kiss to Steve’s cheek. 

“Isn’t that sweet.” A softly accented, feminine voice floated toward them. Both men looked up both wearing the same guilty expression.

Danny was vaguely familiar with the woman, she was the fluff reporter that Rachel admired for her human interest pieces. He couldn’t quite remember her name.

Steve sprang to his feet, reaching out to shake her hand as she reached them. Danny stood, a little more casually and extended his own hand. As Moana took her seat in the armchair opposite them, both men sank back into the sofa.

“Are you ready, gentlemen?” her gentle voice soothed them. Steve stopped looking like a timid rabbit caught in the headlights of a very large truck.

Steve just nodded and Danny caressed his hand as he mirrored Steve’s head bob.

Moana nodded her head to the young man who had escorted them in and, moments later, there was a loud crack and a man yelling action. Moana turned her body towards the camera.

“Today we have a special story for the people of Hawaii. We have just discovered that there is a new happy couple in our law enforcement family. The Governor’s task force, or Five 0 as they like to be known, is _THE_ elite arm of law enforcement in our State. Since its inception, Lt Commander Steven J McGarrett has handpicked the members of the task force and it seems that sparks have flown since his first meeting with his life and work partner. Sgt Daniel Williams had only been on the island for six months when he met and was co-opted by Commander McGarrett to work on his task force.” She paused for a breath. “It seems that chemistry could not be denied and in two days, these strong, brave, honourable men will be making their love public knowledge. We will be following them through their matrimonial journey and will broadcast their nuptials, as I am sure the whole Island would love to see. Tonight, we have Steve and Danny here to explain how they fell in love and the difficulties of being a same sex couple in such a conservative profession.”

“Good Morning, gentlemen, welcome to our show.”

“You’re welcome, Moana, it’s a pleasure to be here.” Danny responded with a smile.

“Tell me Danny, how did you two meet.”

“That’s quite a funny story from a sad circumstance. To cut a long story short, Steve’s father was killed by a terrorist. I was assigned the case and when I went out to investigate the crime scene again, I found an intruder. So technically Steve and I met at gunpoint.”

“How very exciting. I’m guessing that it was resolved happily.”

“Oh not that day. Not at all. The next morning he turned up at my house, co-opted me into his funky little task force, got me shot and had me in an arm lock all in the one morning.”

“Why weren’t you mortal enemies then?” she frowned.

“I put him back in his place.”

“You mean you punched me.” Steve spoke.

“Then we went off to do our job. We killed, or thought we killed, the terrorist and wrapped the case.”

“When did you fall in love?”

“When he hit me.” Steve answered; at the same time as Danny said, “When he gave my daughter a gift at the end of that first case.”

“A gift?” Moana asked.

“He found out that I only had partial custody of my little girl and he discovered I had custody of her that weekend, so he gave her three nights at the Kahala and the dolphin pool.” Danny reached over with his other hand to touched Steve’s face affectionately and gently turn his face to look into Danny’s. “I’ve never told you just how much that meant to me, Babe.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss to Steve’s lips. Steve’s eyes were wide and shocked as Danny pulled back.

“You have to excuse him, he’s been brainwashed by the Army. They’re not supposed to be affectionate in uniform. But look at him, how can you not touch him?”

“Navy, D.” Steve sighed.

“Don’t you worry about working in such a dangerous environment? How do you manage to not worry?”

“Oh we worry, I wouldn’t kvetch so much if I didn’t. When he started the task force, he had no clue about proper police procedure or even self-preservation, but I’m training him. Still five years later, he’s much less self-sacrificing.”

“I’m a Navy SEAL, I have a very broad and well defined skill set. There are occasions when I feel that I can take a perp down with minimal damage and bloodshed, so I do it. Danny often doesn’t agree with my tactics, but you have to agree they get results. Besides, my team have children, families, and extended families. If I can save those people what I have lived through, then I will do WHATEVER I can to stop that.”

“Babe, you’ve got me now, and Grace. You have to be more careful, what would we do without you?”

Steve turned to look at Danny, he heard the sincerity in his partner’s voice and knew that on some level that was completely true. Giving in to temptation, Steve leaned across and kissed Danny on the lips. “I won’t let anyone take you from Grace.”

“I think you two are going to kill me.” Moana sighed.

“How is it going to work when you’re married? Surely there will be some sort of conflict of interest with a married couple working together.”

“I am resigning from the task force.” Steve answered smoothly. “I’m returning to active duty in a training capacity at first, but eventually I’ll be returning to the teams.”

“And I’ll be taking over the reins of the task force, but there will always be a spot for Steve in a consulting capacity.” Danny responded.

“We will be living in my father’s house; because the taskforce is so busy, we’re not taking a proper honeymoon just yet. We’re going to spend a week getting to know each other at home.” Steve stated.

“Don’t you already know each other?” Moana raised an eyebrow at them.

Steve’s cheeks flushed pink at her words, looking desperately at Danny.

He cleared his throat before he could answer. “What my deliciously blushing betrothed means to say is we’ll be getting to know each other biblically.” He turned to look at Steve as he spoke, taking Steve’s big hand in his own. “Steve has never been married; he’s very traditional and I want to do this properly for him.”

Moana blushed as she answered. “Oh my God, you two are just like fairy tale prince charming.” She turned back to look at the camera.

“That is all we have time for folks. Tonight we’ll be attending the Dual Stag nights and tomorrow we will be attending the nuptials, but I’m sure that after that, the boys can have all the fun on their own.”

As the cameras stopped rolling, Moana fawned over them for a few minutes and then had them escorted back to the green room where they were welcome to leave at any time they were ready. Steve hadn’t even made it into the room before he turned on his heel and walked down the corridor towards the exit.

“Hey babe, slow down.” Danny called after him.

“I want to get out of here.”

“Ditto, but no need to run.”

“Did you have to imply to the whole island that we’ll be fucking like bunnies for a week?”

“I’m pretty sure I didn’t just imply it.”

“I’m pretty sure that I don’t need the island knowing what we do in bed.” Steve snapped.

“We don’t do anything in bed, Babe.”

“They don’t fucking know that.” Steve took a deep breath. “Just forget it.”

“Not gonna happen.” Danny increased his pace to keep up with Steve. “Is your problem that it’s implied with me or is it something else?”

“Wait, what?” Steve stopped dead in his tracks, Danny slamming into his back. 

“Sounds to me like you’re offended by me, or rather being sexed up by me since you did confess to me that you swing both ways.”

“What would it take to make you shut up?” Steve winced as he considered Danny’s question. “It’s got nothing to do with you. It could be Cath or, I don’t know, the whole flock of Victoria’s angels. I’m a private person, D. No one needs to know what I do in my bed. That’s my business.”

“So to clarify, it’s the publicity not the person.”

“Yes.” Steve’s shoulders slumped. “Who I fuck is my business.”

“And your crazy ass plan has made it everyone’s business. Suck it up, princess.” Danny laughed as he patted Steve on the back and preceded him to the car.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Steve and Danny were ‘officially’ removed from the case, but that didn’t stop them from continuing to sift through Ed’s life, trying to uncover the reason he was taken, or even where the missing people had vanished. The security at Steve’s house was being increased while they worked, attempting to increase the level of safety they could expect whilst they were playing the bait for a psychopath. When they weren’t chasing down leads and the myriad of preparations for their operation, the Governor had committed them to photo calls, supplementary interviews, clothes fittings, and various other ‘matrimonial’ plans. 

As a show of support for their teammates, the whole team was in the office waiting for the first screening of the interview. Rachel had even deigned to bring Grace to the office and stayed around, as she told Danny, for a good laugh. That’s what found them all sitting around the conference table, the news screening on the overhead screens.

Kono in an effort to be ‘helpful’ had made bowls of popcorn, much to Steve’s chagrin.

“Kono?” he squeaked out as he watched her place the bowls on the table. “What are you doing?”

“I suspect this will be very entertaining, boss.” She grinned at him. “Besides you always need popcorn at the movies.”

“Do you really need to be this gleeful?”

“Not gleeful boss, I’m happy for you both.”

“I’m not going to be able to stop this, am I?”

“Nope. You set the ball rolling when you suggested this plan, I’m just catching the momentum.”

As the announcement was made on the news that the story would be on after the next block of advertising, the Five-0 Ohana settled down at the conference table and slouched around the room, their attention captivated by the screen. Steve scanned his friends’ faces and sighed unhappily, drifting unnoticed away from the table. Blocked from the privacy he enjoyed in his office, he slipped out of the room and into the corridor. 

Since he’d suggested his plan, he had been regretting every word. He knew in theory it was a good plan, and he knew it would work, he just hadn’t expected his team and the Governor to grasp at it like a starving man clutches at a pizza. Okay, so maybe Danny hadn’t been that enthusiastic, but once he’d gotten into it, he had really embraced it. Steve ran his thumb over his bottom lip, tracing where he could still feel the warmth of Danny’s lips. He’d waited for that for so long, wished for it for even longer, now having the pretence of what he really wanted was even worse than not having it. Deep in thought, he didn’t hear the door opening.

“Hey buddy, you missed your big interview.” Danny stepped through the door. Jamming his hands in his pockets, Danny walked towards Steve.

“I was there.” Steve leaned back against the wall and watched Danny’s approach. “I don’t need to see that fiasco all over again.”

“It wasn’t that bad.” Danny shrugged. “You were kind of cute, babe.”

“Again. Was there. Reliving that is not on the top of my wanna do again list.”

“It wasn’t that bad.” Danny shrugged. “Just think of it this way. You’re getting all the best bits of a wife without the crap.”

Steve couldn’t help himself. “Do I get you in a frilly apron?” 

“What are the parameters? With a bib? Lacy? Sans clothing?” Danny asked.

“Wait….What? NO! Just forget I even said it.” Steve’s eyes were wide as he stuttered over his words.

“Calm down, big guy, I was fucking with you. You’ve got to chill out or you’ll never pull this off.” 

Danny squared off in front of Steve and placed his hands on his upper arms. “I know you can do this. It’s a good plan, and we’re good. You were like a wet dream for that sick fuck on the news just now. It’s all going to be fine, and when this is done we’ll look back at all of this and laugh.”

“Lover boys?” Kono’s laughter preceded her appearance. “Denning wants to see both of you in Steve’s office.”

“We’ll be back in a minute.” Danny responded without looking up.

Kono frowned, but retreated back into the office.

“We good, buddy?” he looked up at Steve.

Steve paused for a moment, watching his best friend and partner carefully before he nodded his head. 

“Let’s go see what hoops we have to jump through now.” Steve breathed as he pushed off of the wall.

Steve and Danny walked back into the office and were met with a wall of congratulatory applause. Wending their way through their friends and family, they accepted the cheery words before slipping into Steve’s office to find Denning sitting in Steve’s chair.

“Gentlemen, I must say that was a very convincing interview.”

“Thank you sir.” Steve stood stiffly at Danny’s side, automatically falling into parade rest.

“Our original plan has a slight snag.” He started to explain.

“It’s a sound strategy sir.” 

“I’ve discussed the issue with my advisors. In order to not leave any loopholes, we have decided that you will need to be legally married.”

“What!” Both men exclaimed.

“It will leave a complete paper trail. We don’t know where this person is and for all we know, he picks these people from their official documentation.”

“Surely we can make something bogus up.”

“There will be no dodgy paperwork. After we have caught this psychopath, an annulment will be an easy fix.”

“But…” Steve started to argue.

“No ‘buts’ Commander.” The governor stood and walked around Steve’s desk. “I’ve invited everyone here to the Lewers Lounge for your Stag night of sorts. My office will pick up the tab.”

“Thank you, sir.” Steve’s teeth were clenched so hard that Danny was amazed they didn’t crack.

Following the Governor out of the office, Danny was surprised to see Rachel waiting by the door.

“Daniel. A word please.” She asked haughtily, her mouthed twisted into a smirk as she made her way to Danny’s office, her heels tapping sharply on the marble floors.

Danny looked at Steve, his hand wrapping gently around Steve’s wrist. “Are you good while I see what I’ve done wrong?”

“Sure thing.” Steve nodded as he moved towards Grace who still sat at the conference table.

Danny crossed the office and slipped inside his office, jamming his hands in his pockets he squared his shoulders and waited for his ex-wife to say her piece.  
“Well, let me have it.” Danny spoke as his patience wore thin.

“How long?” Rachel’s voice was amused.

“Rach, I’m not in the mood for games. Can you just get to the point? Just this once?”

“How long have you been in love with the Commander?”

Danny nearly swallowed his tongue as he heard Rachel’s words. “What. The. Hell. Rachel, that’s ridiculous, even for you.”

“Daniel, before you get into your defensive peacock routine, just remember one thing. I know you.”

“You know me. You. Know. Me.” Danny blustered at her. “What do you mean? I was married to you. Of course you fucking know me.”

“Daniel. Calm down. I’m not annoyed. I’m possibly even happy for you. But as I was saying. I know you. You used to look at me the way you looked at him in that interview. In fact, I’m a little jealous. I don’t think you ever really looked at me that way.”

“I’m still waiting to find out what I’m supposed to have done for you to magically see this epiphany you had. I was acting Rachel; you know, it’s what you do when you are sent undercover.”

“Somebody should really call the Academy then, because if you don’t get a statuette, you’ve been robbed.”

“What do you want Rachel?” Danny deflated.

“Does he know?” She pried.

“What the ever loving fuck Rach. How can you even ask that? He’s straight.”

“He might well have been, but he’s not anymore. He’s like a neon sign, Daniel. Every time he looks at you, he practically has those pulsing cartoon heart eyes throbbing at you.”  
“You are unbelievable, Rach.” Danny started pacing in front of her, his agitation palpable.

“Daniel?” she spoke softly.

“What?” he stopped in front of her.

“I just wanted to offer you some advice.”

“This should be good.” Danny snorted.

“You and I both made some monumental mistakes. I’d like to think that we have both learned from them. I like how happy he makes you; I like that you have someone, and I can see that he needs someone. Don’t screw this up Daniel.” Rachel spoke before stepping past him. “I’d like to attend your stag night with the others, but I need to take Grace home. I’m sure we can arrange a little get together that she can attend before your nuptials.” She leaned in and pressed a kiss to his forehead before walking briskly out of his office.  


Danny stood there for a moment, dumbfounded. He really wasn’t sure what just happened, but he was almost positive that his ex-wife had just given her approval of his upcoming ‘fake’ nuptials and her overwhelming approval of his betrothed.

“Hey, you ready to get this over with?” Steve asked as he pushed the door open.

“Oh.” Danny exclaimed, “Sorry babe, got distracted.”

“Everything alright? Was Rachel pissed?” Steve’s brow furrowed.

“No, she was fine.” Danny shrugged as he turned to leave his office. “She just wanted to arrange a time to spend some time with Grace before the ceremony since she can’t come tonight.”

“If we can get off this circus ride for long enough, maybe we could treat the both of them to breakfast in the morning.” Steve suggested.

“She’d like that.” Danny nodded.  
~*~~*~~*~~*~

The next day passed in a blur for Steve. From an early morning breakfast with Rachel and Grace at the Tropics Bar, where Grace threw him his first curveball of the day. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting when Danny’s beautiful daughter asked to speak to him in private, but it certainly hadn’t been to have her shyly ask him if it would be alright for her to call him Daddy now. He was sure that he must have looked like a beached fish when she asked him, her happy eyes and nervous smile as she awaited his answer. He had stammered out an affirmative answer, he couldn’t even remember what he said, but she had launched herself into his arms and hugged him as if he was the centre of her universe.

From there, it was all downhill; he felt as if he never really regained his equilibrium. Try as he might, he really couldn’t remember the specifics of the ceremony. He had never expected to be married. He’d been more or less alone for his entire adult life, no ties, no commitments and he liked it that way; nobody to mourn him when he was gone. That was mostly why he pushed his body to the limits and had no qualms with putting it on the line to defend his country and protect his people. That was why he was so invested in his ‘fake’ wedding. His heart wouldn’t listen to his head; if he were to ever marry, it would be to Danny and that would never happen, so now he’d have this ceremony to carry in his memories for the dark days when the loneliness that was his life overwhelmed him.

The service that was supposed to be small and intimate turned into a three-ringed circus of crazy media ridiculousness. The few friends and family that were in attendance seemed happy. He couldn’t for the life of him remember what he had said to them at the reception, but he knew that the friends he had on the island, his ohana, even the ones that were in the know of the sham, were happy for them. There was one part of the day that was crystal clear in his mind. When the governor had declared them partners, Danny had turned to face him. Pulling him closer by the hand that Steve was pretty sure he had crushed in his nervous grip, Danny had looped his free hand behind Steve's neck and pulled him down for a kiss. Their first real kiss. 

At that point, Steve was lost; his entire world narrowed down to him and Danny. He’d pulled Danny’s hand up, holding their entwined fingers against his heart, as Danny’s free hand twisted in the curls at Steve’s nape. He opened his mouth and gave his partner access. As their tongues duelled, Steve’s hand slid down Danny’s back until it rested on the bubble of Danny’s ass, his fingers unconsciously kneading. Pulling Danny closer, there was no mistaking the burgeoning arousal pressing against Steve’s thigh, just as there was no way he could hide his own from Danny. Lost in Danny’s delicious kisses, he only became aware of the world around them as Danny pulled away from his mouth and rested his head on his shoulder. Steve lifted his hand and caressed the back of Danny’s head while they both struggled to catch their breath.

That’s when he heard it. His ohana were clapping and cheering like they were at a football match. 

“Is that for us?” he whispered against Danny’s hair.

“That or the jets just arrived.” Danny chuckled against his chest.

“Want to get this over with so we can go home?” Steve asked him softly.

“Nothing I want more.”

That was how they managed to breeze through their reception, sharing a piece of the most ridiculous overly excessive wedding cake that Steve had ever seen. He’d laughed when he’d seen it. The topper was, appropriately, two men, but one was a strange mutation of GI Joe and Captain America and the other was considerably shorter and wore not a tux, but a shirt and tie. The most disturbing part of the entire ceremony, and had been devised by Kono if Steve had to guess, in exchange for the throwing of the wedding garter, Steve had been tasked to toss his thigh holster into the gathered crowd, and thankfully right after, both he and Danny had happily been able to take their leave.

They’d been home for an hour now; the silence had been gratefully accepted. Steve had checked his weapons, made sure they were as fully protected as they could be. Danny had excused himself from the game they had been distractedly watching to shower and prepare for bed. Steve had secured the house and activated the alarm system before retreating to his bedroom. Removing his watch and laying it on his dresser, he traced his fingers over the soft well-worn leather of Danny’s wallet where it sat beside his watch. A small smile creased his lips as a wave of fondness overwhelmed him.

“Is there something I should know?” Danny murmured, he leaned against the doorframe of the bedroom ensuite. When Steve looked up, his mouth went dry. Danny was naked. Well not completely naked, a white towel was wrapped low around his hips. Small droplets of water clung to the fuzzy mat of chest hair.

“Earth to Steven.” He laughingly called. “Come in Steven.”

“What?” Steve shook his head to clear the pornographic images that had filled his brain.

“Shower is free.” Danny stated as he walked across to the end of the bed.

Steve just stood there, his gaze fixated on Danny’s bare chest, his fingers unconsciously brushing against Danny’s wallet.

“What’s up babe?” Danny tilted his head, studying Steve closely, frowning.

“I’m sorry.” Steve sighed. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me today.”

“Go shower, babe.” Danny reached up, his fingers deftly unknotting Steve’s now loosely hanging tie. When he was done with the tie, he left it hanging there and started to unbutton Steve’s crisp white shirt. “You’ll feel better for it. Then we can go to bed and today will be done.”

“Yeah. Yeah I will.” Steve nodded.

“I’ll get us a nightcap while you’re in there.” Danny patted him on the chest and walked out of the room.

Steve stayed there transfixed, torn between acknowledging the fact that the merest whisper light touch of Danny’s fingers on his chest had made him harder than he could remember, and fretting over the fact that Danny was going to be spending the night in his bed. A sudden thought slammed into his brain and made Steve weak at the knees. Danny was clearly naked under that towel. He didn’t know, couldn’t recall previous conversations about his sleeping habits. Did he sleep naked? How the hell was he supposed to deal with that? He leaned his elbows on the tall boy, trying to reign in his emotions. He could face a mass of terrorists without blinking an eye, but just being near his Danny at the moment was freaking him the fuck out.

Shaking himself out of his current headspace, Steve walked through to the bathroom, stripping as he walked. Dropping his clothes into his laundry basket, he turned the water on and stepped under the ice-cold jets. He wanted nothing more than to wrap his hand around himself and take the edge off the need that was pulsing through him. Instead, he stood there, the cold water beating down on his head and trailing down his body. The cold tendrils of liquid easing the most obvious of his current problems, but it refused to clear his head of the questions swimming through his brain. 

Finishing his shower, he pushed back the curtain to find a tumbler containing three ice cubes and what he assumed was scotch, a pair of his sleep pants, and boxer briefs. He had been so absorbed in his own confusion that he had completely missed Danny leaving his clothes. He needed to up his game or he would get himself killed, or even worse, get Danny killed. That was an inappropriate result. Taking a deep breath, he wiped his body perfunctorily dry with what he realised was a fresh and fluffy new towel and slipped into the clothes that had been left for him. 

Taking a sip from his glass, he let the warmth of the very good whisky travel to his gullet before he walked casually back into his bedroom. The glass almost slipped from his fingers. Danny was sitting on the bed, leaning against the headboard; thankfully he’d slipped into blue and white striped boxer briefs and a loose white t-shirt. He had also folded back the bedspread and flicked back the top sheet. He sat there, his legs straight out in front of him and crossed at the ankle whilst he read the morning paper.

“Hey babe.” He looked up over the paper when he heard Steve. “Good shower?”

“Not bad.” Steve set his whisky on the bedside table and sat in bed beside Danny, pulling the sheet up to his waist.

“Chin dropped off the early edition of the paper while you were in the shower. The governor made sure we made the front page. Do you want to see it?”

“No, I’ll wait until tomorrow. I might just sack out.”

“Sounds good.” Danny folded the paper up and put it on the bedside table, leaning over to flick the lamp off as he did.

Steve slid down in the bed, lying stiffly on his back, his arms pinning the sheet down at his sides, staring at the ceiling. Danny wriggled around for a little bit as he got comfortable in the unfamiliar bed. Steve lay there and listened to Danny breathing, afraid to move because all he wanted to do was to fold his arms around his husband. He wasn’t sure how long he lay there before he spoke.

“You awake?” Steve murmured.

“No.” Danny answered.

“Okay.” Steve accepted and went silent.

“What’s wrong? Your thinking is keeping me awake.” Danny rolled onto his side to look at Steve. “In fact, you’ve been off for the last couple of days.”

“Do you miss it?” Steve blurted out.

“Miss what?” Danny lifted up onto his elbow to try and see Steve’s face in the semi darkness, trying to work out what was going on in his head.

“Being a husband.” Steve rolled over to look at him.

Danny was silent for a few minutes. Long enough that Steve thought that he had offended him with the question.

“You don’t have to answer. I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for? I was just trying to decide how to answer. Why do you ask?”

“Because I’ve never been one and I don’t know what to do, how to respond.” Steve shrugged.

“In answer to your question, yes, some days I do. I miss having someone there with me when I need them or just when I want to be there for them. When I want to snuggle in bed. Not just for lovemaking purposed, but because I like to cuddle and I like to spoon, have someone to share ice-cream with on the couch. Someone I can do things with that might be as simple as making a poached egg and sharing breakfast with that makes the person I love smile and know I love them. I certainly don’t miss the fights. But the good times make up for the occasional fight.”

“Never picked you for a cuddler.” Steve almost sighed at the thought.

“Seriously, babe, have you never had sex?”

“Is that rhetorical, because seriously, I’m pretty sure you’ve called me on morning after more than once.”

“Don’t you cuddle?”

“Cath isn’t a cuddler and anyone else has been hand jobs in the head or not important enough for them to want to stay afterwards.”

Danny rolled onto his back and shook his head in dismay before he rolled back toward Steve. 

“I blame this on your mother.” Danny grizzled. “You weren’t held enough as a child. C’mere.”

“I’m not coming there for sympathy cuddles.” Steve snorted.

“They’re not sympathy cuddles. It’s spooning, there’s a difference.” Danny reached out and caressed Steve’s shoulder, “There is nothing wrong with married people spooning. Get your ass over here to the middle or I’m coming over there and that’s like sleeping in a single.”

“You’re not going to let this go are you?” Steve huffed.

“Hell no.” Danny beckoned with his fingers.

“I’m only doing this for you.” Steve shuffled the top half of his body closer to the middle of the bed, careful to lever his lower body away from Danny’s.

“Get it right babe. If you’re going to do something, dive right in.” Danny closed his arms around Steve and, hooking one leg over Steve’s thigh, he pulled him closer with his leg.

Steve lay perfectly still in Danny’s arms; he didn’t dare move because every inch of him was hyper aware of Danny’s muscular body pressed against him. His face was pressed into Danny’s neck, breathing in his masculine scent. His mouth suddenly dry, his tongue flicked out to wet his lips, the tip of his tongue brushing against Danny’s furry skin.

“Did you just lick me?” Danny chuckled.

Steve lifted his head and looked into Danny’s face. “No.”

“I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, I was just curious.”

“Why did you kiss me like that?” Steve flicked his gaze away from Danny’s eyes as he asked.

“At the ceremony?” 

Steve didn’t answer, just nodded. He didn’t know what the fuck was wrong with him. Over the last two days, he’d devolved into a teenage girl. He really needed to man up and get his shit together.

“Because that’s what married people do at weddings, babe, they kiss when their vows are complete. We had to do something special to get that freaks attention.”

Steve felt a cold hand clench around his heart at Danny’s words, glad that he hadn’t done anything to tip his hand. It was all just an act for the perp’s benefit.

“Right.” Steve grunted out.

“What do I need to do to get you to lose the tension babe, it’s like cuddling a redwood log.” Danny grumbled, “And you know, spooning is traditionally done with your back to my front babe, not that I don’t mind seeing the lashes of doom, but I’d prefer you to relax and you know, like sleep.”

“Okay.” Steve rolled over, and backed his hips towards Danny’s groin. “Better?”

Danny snuggled into him, his leg over Steve’s thighs pulling Steve tighter against him, his hand pressed over Steve’s heart.

“Infinitely.” Danny snuggled into Steve’s neck, his breath stirring his hair.

Steve let his body relax, he could now that Danny couldn’t feel how his touch was affecting his body, but he couldn’t hide the rapid racing of his heartbeat under Danny’s palm. Snuggling back, he bent his knees and let his toes brush against Danny’s feet.

“Might have known you’d play footsie.” Danny chuckled sleepily against his neck.

“This is nice.” Steve breathed, his eyes flicking closed, opening wide as he felt Danny’s cock twitching against his ass.

“Mmmm. More than nice.” Danny’s voice was husky and sleepy.

“Danny?” 

“Mmmm. We’re married right?”

“Yes dear.” 

“What if we actually behaved married?”

“We already are.”

“No I mean in every way.”

Steve felt Danny stiffen behind him. He tried to mask his reaction but Steve knew Danny he was attuned to everything about Danny. He knew Danny’s reactions better then he knew his own.

“Forget I said that D, just put it down to the stress of the day.”

“I’m not forgetting anything.” Danny’s fingers started to pet Steve’s chest, almost as if he was trying to sooth a frightened child. “Is that what you want?”

“I thought it might be something you would want.”

“If we do that, we can’t annul the marriage.”

“We don’t have to tell anyone.” Steve shrugged.

Danny pressed a kiss to Steve’s neck. Then another. “Nothing is going to happen tonight.”

“What about….”

“My boner?” Danny chuckled. “I’ll survive.” His hand skimmed across Steve’s chest to play with his nipple as his teeth worried the tanned skin of Steve’s shoulder.

“You don’t need to. I’m not an asshole, D.” he turned his head to look back into Danny’s face. “I can take care of it for you.” Steve was willing Danny to say yes since he’d blurted his suggestion out, his mind was clear on what he needed. For two days or two weeks he didn’t care, Danny was going to be his just as much as he was Danny’s. He’d deal with the fallout of his broken heart after wards, when their marriage was annulled and they were back to being work partners and nothing more.

“I might yell at you that you are from time to time, but I don’t really mean it. You’re the most selfless human I know.” Danny kissed his shoulder as his hand ran over the taut six-pack, his finger trailing across his navel. “For that reason, if none other, one more night won’t kill us. You’re exhausted. Tonight we sleep, tomorrow we will explore this thought.”

The fact that Danny hadn’t thrown him out of his bed was enough to take the tension out of Steve’s body. He let himself relax against Danny, the rhythm of Danny’s breathing soothing him in a way that nothing else could. He could feel his body growing lethargic and sleepy. His eyes flickered a few times and slowly drifted to sleep. Danny felt Steve relaxing into him and pressed a kiss to his nape as he let sleep pull him into its embrace.

*~*~~*~~*~*

Steve woke with something tickling his nose. He was having the best sleep he had had in an age; no nightmares, no fragmented dreams that made him uneasy and restless, just comfortable deep sleep. He twitched it a few times trying to move the offending tickle, he even huffed a breath over his lip to blow the offending object away, but it was useless. Finally deigning to open his eyes he couldn’t help the startled shudder that trembled through him.

Danny. 

Then he remembered. They were married. Fake married, but married. They’d kissed. He closed his eyes remembering the taste of Danny on his lips. His eyes flew open. Oh my God, he’d proposed sex to Danny when they were both in that hazy place between awake and asleep. Danny had turned him down. Not totally, but still turned the offer down. Now he was awake and his face was pressed into Danny’s shoulder, his arm clinging around Danny’s chest like he was some sort of octopus limpet. Worse still, his morning hard-on was trying to drill a hole through Danny’s hip and he was pretty sure that Danny was sporting a similar condition that was resting against Steve’s thigh.

“Stop freaking out.” Danny murmured sleepily.

“I don’t think I can.”

“Explain to me why not.”

“You’re my partner, my best friend. I can’t and won’t lose that. If doing what I proposed is going to hurt us, then I withdraw the question.” Steve’s hand was tracing circles on Danny’s chest as he spoke.

“You left out one.” Danny answered calmly, “We’re married.”

“I forced you into it.”

“Fuck off. I might have jumped at the chance; you were too busy freaking the fuck out to notice.”

“What do you want to do?”

“I propose a trial period.” Danny explained. “We’re not rushing into this. We’re not horny teenagers any more. Besides, I don’t think anyone has ever romanced you, have they?  
Given your track record at romantic gestures with the lovely Cath.”

“What does that even mean?” Steve frowned and moved his head onto the pillow so he could see Danny’s face more clearly.

“It means we’re going to learn about each other Steven, maybe have lots of sex and see what happens.”

“Maybe?” Steve grinned sleepily.

“Yes, maybe. We don’t even know what we like. What we’ve done. What we want to do?”

“Whatever you want, nothing very exciting, anything to make you happy.”

“See that, right there, is the problem.” Danny huffed, turning onto his side. They shared a pillow, their faces inches apart as they looked at each other.

“What could be a problem with that?”

“I don’t want you to make me happy. I want us both to make each other happy. I won’t be happy unless you are.”

“Making you happy will make me happy.”

“You are officially impossible.” Danny grumbled as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Steve’s.

Steve kissed him for all he was worth, his hands rising to clasp Danny’s face between them, holding his face still, his tongue licking the crease of Danny’s lips, sighing into his mouth as Danny opened it under Steve’s passionate onslaught. Steve’s thumbs caressed Danny’s cheekbones, his body rolled closer until they were pressed together from neck to knee, Steve half pressing Danny into the mattress. Steve pulled away, breathing heavily as he sucked in a heaving breath. He pressed his forehead to Danny’s as they both tried to catch their breath.

“Wow.” Danny exhaled shakily. “Did you kiss Cath like that?”

“I guess, why?” Steve murmured. 

“I don’t know how she could ever leave you after that.”

Steve couldn’t help himself, he grinned against Danny’s lips.

“And now your ego is going to explode, isn’t it?”

Steve rubbed the lower half of his body against Danny, both of them hissing at the friction.

“No.” Steve grinned, “But I think something else will.”

“And there is the Steve I love.” Danny groaned.

Danny’s words cut through Steve’s heart. Did he LOVE love him, or did he just love him as a friend? He couldn’t understand why Danny would love him romantically, not when he had women like Rachel and Amber,and that lovely archaeologist whose name he couldn’t remember. Maybe it was just an itch that he wanted to scratch while he had the opportunity. Either way, he wasn’t going to worry about it now. Heart be damned, he was going to make Danny as happy as he possibly could for as long as they had.  
“What’s going on in that head of yours?”

“Thinking.” Steve shrugged. Trailing his hand down across Danny’s belly, he slipped his fingers under the elastic of his boxer briefs

Danny groaned as the tips of Steve’s fingers brushed against his cock, but he was fully cognisant of the power of Steve’s distraction tactics. Regretfully reaching down, he wrapped his fingers around Steve’s wrist and pulled his hand away.

“I’m not a wham bang thank you ma’am type, big guy. We’re taking our time.”

“Big guy, huh?” Steve thrust his hips against Danny’s whilst waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“Seriously, how did you get the nickname Smooth Dog? It has to be ironic. Please tell me it’s ironic.”

Steve opened his mouth to answer when his phone started shrilling on the bedside table.

“Hold that thought.” Steve rolled onto his back and snatched his phone up.

“This had better be good.”

“Good morning to you too, Steve.” Chin answered cheerily.

“I’m on my honeymoon, what do you want?” Steve answered testily as he put the phone on speaker and dropped it on Danny’s chest.

“Morning, Chin-Ho.” Danny greeted him.

“Morning Detective McGarrett. I trust your evening was satisfactory.” Kono chuckled.

“It’s Williams-McGarrett, Kalakaua.” He growled, his tone mocking.

“Have you boys been outside this morning?” Lou asked, the laugh in his tone almost audible.

“Outside? We haven’t even made it out of bed yet.” Danny answered.

“We have a problem.”

Both men immediately sat bolt upright, momentarily scrambling for the phone before finding it where it had landed in the sheets. “What’s wrong?” they asked in unison as they scrambled out of bed.

“It seems we forgot some contingencies?” Chin began to explain.

“He’s killed someone else hasn’t he?’ Danny exhaled. “We’ve done all this for nothing, haven’t we?”

Steve’s attention was riveted on Danny’s mouth. This was a mistake? Danny thought this was all a mistake, even their change in relationship? Of course he would, Steve had completely forgotten that Danny said he would do anything to make this UC job work. 

“McGarrett?” Lou’s voice was tinny as he called his name. He looked up to see a frown on Danny’s face as he watched him. “What do you want us to do?”

“About what?”

“The protestors.”

“Nothing just yet. We’ll come up with a plan.” Protestors? What protestors? What had he missed while he was undergoing his self-absorbed pity?

“We’ll call you back, Chin.” Danny spoke up, before clicking the disconnect icon and handing the phone back to Steve. “What is wrong with you?”

“Nothing. I’m good.” Steve nodded, walking towards the bathroom. “I’m good.” He closed the door behind him. He leaned back against the door mentally castigating himself.

“Get a fucking grip on yourself, McGarrett.” He hissed. “Why the fuck can’t you just get on with the job like you’ve been trained to do.” Steve moved over to the toilet and slipped his sleep pants down, then took care of his morning ablutions. Leaning over the vanity, he splashed water on his face still muttering to himself. “I’ll tell you why asshole, you know he doesn’t really want you. Selfish that’s what you are.”

“Babe, are you okay in there? If you’re talking to me, I can’t hear you.” Danny called through the closed door.

“Fuck.” Steve barked at himself. “I’m good, D, I’ll be out in a minute.”

“Don’t wait much longer, my bladder hasn’t exploded since I was in kindergarten, but I think we’re in the final countdown here.” 

A fond smile landed on Steve’s face as he considered baby Danny dismayed at peeing his tiny pants and wondered if the hand waving and ranting started then or later in his life when he had a better vocabulary. Snickering, Steve decided that no, Danny was born with a thesaurus and a dictionary downloaded into his sharp-witted brain.

He swung the door open and was stunned when Danny pushed passed him and pulled himself out of his boxers, a stream of urine immediately flowing into the bowl. Steve didn’t know whether to be mortified or amused when a blissful sigh bubbled from Danny’s lips. He wasn’t squeamish about seeing another man pee; he was in the military, and he’d probably seen more men pissing than he’d had hot dinners, but this was Danny. His Danny. Up until now, he’d carefully averted his eyes when they stood side by side at the urinal. His fantasies were realistic enough without having visual proof, and now that he stood there, gaping like a lovesick teenager, he could verify that he hadn’t been quite accurate in his mental images. In fact, he’d been far underestimating the capacity of his fantasies.

“Like what you see?” Danny asked, his voice filled with fondness, “I wouldn’t be averse to a game of I’ll show you mine and you show me yours.”

“What?” Steve shook his head, trying ineffectively to regain his powers of speech. Danny’s suggestion had derailed his brain and worse still, the thought of Danny looking at him was succeeding in sending his blood flow directly to his groin. “What?”

“I said,” Danny spoke slowly “I’m game, drop ‘em Aquaman.”

‘No.” Steve backed away until he was pressed up against the wall. “No. No… That would be, I dunno, weird.”

“And yet I notice,” Danny spoke absently as he shook and tucked himself away again “You had no problem watching my dick, and it appears it was quite exciting to you.” Danny chuckled as he walked passed Steve and out the door, lingering briefly to cup and caress Steve’s half hard cock. “Once you get a grip of your vocab or your freak out or whatever the fuck is going on in that head of yours, I’ll be in the kitchen, making breakfast. I will then, like a good partner, fill you in on the information you were zoning on from our hard working teammates.”

Fifteen minutes later, and a harsh self-lecture later, Steve walked into the kitchen, clad in board shorts and a SEALs t-shirt he’d cut the sleeves out of, to find Danny making waffles and bacon. Coffee was brewing in his French press and Danny had left the butter beside it for Steve. Steve looked at Danny disbelievingly.

“What, you’re not the only one that is perceptive. I may not appreciate the way you take your coffee, but I remember it. I remember everything about you.”

Steve opened his mouth to respond, but thought better of it. He poured his coffee and added the butter before speaking again.

“I’m sorry I zoned earlier. What was the problem?” he asked.

“Apparently the whackerjack isn’t the only one we’ve attracted.” Danny loaded waffles and bacon onto a plate and slid it onto the table in front of Steve.

“Eat.” He directed. “The wedding episode received so many ‘tweets’ and PM’s that we crashed HNN’s server.”

“And?” Steve said as he pushed the plate forward while he rested his elbows on the table.

“Eat.” Danny pushed the plate back in front of him. “You’re going to need your strength tonight.”

Steve, who had just taken a gulp of his coffee, choked on it. Danny moved behind him and whumped him soundly on the back.

“I don’t know what’s going on in there, Steven, but you have to get a grip or put it aside or lockbox it or whatever it is you do. You need to have your head in this game or you’ll get yourself killed. I can’t lose you. So, please, please for the love of all that is holy, whatever is bothering you, deal with it?”

“I’m trying.” Steve choked out, “I’m not going to put you in danger.”

“I’m not worried about me, you huge emotional backstep. You. I’m worried about you.”

“Okay.” Steve couldn’t take the look in Danny’s eyes when he looked up, so he pulled his breakfast plate closer. “Why are Chin and Kono worried?”

“It seems that the majority of the communications received at the office, the HPD, the governor’s office, HNN, and The Advertiser was disapproving of the publicity of our union.”

“It’s a marriage for God’s sake.”

“Apparently we’ve offended the anti-gays, the pro-gays, the religious zealots – of all denominations, the military, the law enforcement unions, and some crazy group of surfers that is apparently offended that I don’t surf.”

Steve gave Danny a ‘what the fuck’ look before he stuffed another bite of waffle in his mouth.

“Whazourphlan?” he muttered around his food.

“In English now, Neanderthal?” Danny folded his arms over his chest.

“What’s our plan?” Steve asked after he swallowed.

“Not a clue. You are our master planner for this shindig, babe.”

“Suggestions?”

“I’m all for staying here and maintaining the cover, but Chin is concerned that the increased police presence in the neighbourhood will deter Crazycakes from his mission. I tend to agree.”

Steve thought for a moment, continuing to chew through his breakfast. “We can try for the next couple of days and see what transpires. Maybe instead of staying home in daylight, we can go out, makes ourselves visible away from home. If we’re always together we should be able to protect ourselves. I don’t want to have visible back up just in case he’s tracking us.”

“That’s solid enough, I guess.” Danny nodded.

“You’re not happy.” Steve looked at him shrewdly.

“You’ve deliberately made us both targets and no matter how well we planned for every contingency, we only had two days. Now the plan needs to change, there are more variables. I don’t know why, but you’re not on top of your game. You and I both know it. Fuck, the rest of the team knows it. So no, I’m not happy, but I trust you with my life and my monkey’s life and I hope you trust me the same way. So I’ll deal with my doubts and we should be good.”

“I’m sorry, D. I’m trying to get my head together. I should never have suggested this.”

“It’s a sound plan. I wouldn’t have agreed if it weren’t. Danny leaned over and pressed his lips to Steve’s forehead. “You’re fucking good at what you do, babe.”

As Steve looked up, Danny slid a hand under his chin and tilted his face up to meet his lips. His other hand cupped the back of Steve’s head, fingers threading through his hair as his mouth moved slowly over Steve’s mouth, his tongue flicking back and forth, teasing his lips open.

“Open for me, babe.” Danny murmured against Steve’s skin.

Steve relaxed in Danny’s arms. His mouth opening and Danny’s tongue plunging inside, twisting and twining with his tongue, his stubble scraping across Steve’s as he moved. Steve’s eyes closed as he enfolded himself in the taste and feel of Danny. 

When Danny pulled back, Steve’s eyes opened, blinking myopically.

Danny continued trailing wet open-mouthed kisses across Steve’s cheeks, his chin as he spoke, his voice husky.

“I’m going upstairs, babe.” He paused as he took the opportunity to fasten his mouth over Steve’s and thoroughly ravish his mouth again. “You’re going to put your plate in the dishwasher and call Chin to tell him the new plan, then meet me in our room.” He stood straight and framed Steve’s face with his hands before kissing him on the forehead again. “Don’t be long.”

Steve had to literally unfold his hands from their white knuckled grip on the edge of the table. He was both terrified and so eager, he felt like a new puppy bounding around the kitchen overexcited at playing with his new master. It took him two minutes to load his crockery into the dishwasher and he took his phone out to the lanai to call Chin and Kono. It was actually good to listen to his teammates good naturedly ribbing him for spending time away from his matrimonial habitat, pulling him back away from the abyss of sheer terror that he was starting to approach. Explaining his new temporary plan, they filled him in with tasks they were involved in trying to discover the identity of their perp. Ending the call, Steve ducked into the downstairs bathroom and stripped. He stepped into the shower cubicle and made sure that he was thoroughly clean. Drying off he decided to forgo redressing and just wrapped the towel around his hips, then made his way up the stairs.

Pushing the bedroom door open, Steve smiled when he saw Danny lying on his side on the freshly made bed; he had a bare chest and a towel wrapped around him. Seeing his husband, Steve still couldn’t believe he could say those words, laying in a classic playboy pose waiting for him.

“Great minds, huh?” Danny gestured at the towel.

“Yeah.” Steve stammered, “I didn’t know what you like. I didn’t want to disappoint you.”

“Oh babe, c’mere.” Danny held a hand out to him and Steve inched forward, taking Danny’s hand and crawling on his knees onto the bed. “We’re not going anywhere too big right now.”

“But you said….” Steve started.

Danny pressed two fingers to Steve’s lips. “I know what I said Steven,” 

“But….”

“We’re going to fool around, babe. That doesn’t mean that I’m going to stick my dick in your ass, not right now anyway. There is so much more we can do.” He trailed the fingers of one hand down Steve’s belly and slowly tugged the end of the towel free. “We’re going to get to know each other.”

Steve groaned as the towel dropped from his hips. He wanted to fold his hands over his hardening cock, or maybe even have the earth open up and swallow him. He felt like a randy teenager. This wasn’t affecting Danny, why him? 

“Oh babe.” Danny lifted one of Steve’s hands in his, “You’re trembling.”

All thoughts of trying to hide anything from Danny evaporated when Steve realised the one truth in his life that would never change. Danny knew him.

“Want this so badly.” He looked up into Danny’s face, his eyes wide, and his lashes damp. “Please?”

Danny knelt in front of Steve and pulled the towel from his own hips.

“You don’t have to be ashamed of looking, babe.” Danny chided him gently as he watched Steve avert his eyes. “It’s a turn on to know that you want me.”

“How could anyone not want you?” Steve breathed, he reached out to touch Danny, his rough fingertips tracing the length of Danny cock, feeling the flesh filling under his touch.  
“You, my friend, are a wet dream waiting to happen.” Danny leaned forward, resting his head against Steve’s shoulder and mouthing the skin wetly.

“You’ll hurt your knee.” Steve’s fingers closed around Danny’s cock and pulled experimentally.

“You think I even remember I have a knee?” Danny chuckled.

“I don’t know what to do to please you.” 

“That’s why we’re taking our time.” Danny pulled Steve down until they bounced on the bed after the fall. He pushed Steve onto his back and leaned over him, his hands folded over Steve’s chest and looked into his face.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Is it important?

“It is to me.” Danny answered.

“What is it?”

“How many lovers have you had?”

“What?”

“It’s important to me, babe.”

“A few.”

Danny watched his cheeks flush as he spoke. “Not illicit hand jobs in the head or quick fucks in the store room. Actual honest to goodness, stay overnight and wake up in the same bed more than once lovers.”

“A couple.”

Danny reached up to kiss Steve on the neck, flicking his tongue against his skin. “What do you like to do in bed?”

Steve tilted his head back to allow Danny better access. He swallowed convulsively, a moan bubbling from his mouth. “I don’t know.” He murmured.

“Not good enough, babe, use your words.” Danny fastened his teeth on Steve’s neck and suckled wetly. “Do you like to fuck or be fucked, face to face, doggy, or missionary, bondage sixty nine, blindfolded, what gets you off?”

“Do we have to do this?” Steve groaned as Danny’s mouth worked on his skin.

“Yes.” Danny nipped his neck all the way up to his ears and then around his chin and his Adams apple. “I want to please you, I don’t want to use you like everyone before me, and everything we do in this bed is for you.”

“It’s never mattered before, I get off.” Steve growled as he could feel a hickey blooming on his neck.

“It does to me. I get that you’re squeamish. Do you want to play Yes or No or are you going to use your words.”

“Face to face.” Steve gritted out as Danny’s face moved down his chest, his tongue flicking at Steve’s nipples.

“Good.” Danny nibbled at the tiny peak as he swirled his tongue around it. “What else?”

“Giving head?”

“Is that a question?”

“Not really successfully gotten it.”

“You’ve not had a blowjob?” Danny leaned up on his elbows, “How the fuck does that happen?”

“I don’t know, control issues, Cath didn’t like it, with guys it’s always been hand jobs.”

“Control issues?” Danny raised an eyebrow at him, finding Steve’s eyes and holding his gaze as he lowered his mouth to kiss a path across the washboard that was Steve’s abs.

Steve shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never really wanted to put my dick in a mouth I didn’t know I guess. Hand jobs were always a means to an end, we both got off quick and painless.”

“That’s not the point.” Danny sighed and ran his tongue around the shell of Steve’s navel. Steve’s hips arched off the bed and Danny very nearly got Steve’s throbbing dick in his ear.

Using his forearm, Danny carefully pinned Steve’s hips to the bed before he let his tongue trail down Steve’s snail trail, his teeth plucking at the curling hair that nestled around Steve’s cock.

“What are you doing, D?” Steve panted, his hands fisting in the sheet underneath him.

“Showing you what you’ve been missing out on.” Wrapping one hand around the base of Steve’s dick, Danny poked his tongue out and flicked it back and forth over the tip.

“You really…don’t need to.” Danny could see the strain in Steve’s corded neck, his muscular arms holding tight to the sheets, his muscles bulging. Sweat beaded on his forehead. Danny shook his head; this would not do at all. Someone needed to teach his partner how to let go and enjoy himself.

“No I really do.” Danny pushed Steve’s legs open and slid between his open thighs. Resting his arms over Steve’s thighs he pressed his hands to Steve’s hipbones. Lowering his head, he nuzzled his nose in the crease of Steve’s thigh, licking the skin there and plucking at the hair until his mouth reached its destination. He opened his mouth wide and sucked Steve’s testicles into his mouth, rolling the left and then the right across his tongue as Steve bucked up under him. Lifting the skin on his tongue, he licked gently, weighing them on his tongue and then sucking them back into his mouth, over and over again.

Looking up at Steve through lowered lashes, the sight laid out below him was almost more than he could bear. Steve was a quivering mess, his skin flushed and beaded with sweat, his eyes blown wide with the power of his lust. Wanting to give Steve everything he apparently had never had, Danny lowered his face even further, his tongue trailing over Steve’s skin until his tongue flicked across Steve’s hole. Licking and tasting Steve, he tried to hold him still as Steve bucked and thrashed against him, murmuring nonsense words. Pressing his tongue firmly against the tightly puckered orifice, he pushed fractionally in.

Steve stiffened under him. “D!” Steve exclaimed, one hand waving wildly trying to find something, any part of Danny, to connect with.

Realising Steve was close to losing his tightly held control, Danny slid upwards and in one smooth move, Danny took Steve into his mouth, as his lips lowered on Steve’s dick, his tongue lathed the shaft and he reached blindly for Steve’s hand and laced their fingers tightly. With his other hand, he reached lower and rolled Steve’s balls in his fingers.  
Sucking him as deep as he could, his thumb traced Steve’s hand feeling his body unsteady under him. 

“D, D, D,” Steve muttered, his voice shaking as much as his body was. Danny could feel Steve’s balls drawing up as he fell over the edge and erupted in his mouth. Danny swallowed and kept licking and sucking as Steve’s trembling stopped. Looking up as he moved his mouth away, he wiped away a trickle of semen that trickled from his mouth with the back of his hand. He looked up to ask Steve what that was like and Steve’s eyes were closed. Crawling up his body, Danny caressed his partners face, getting no reaction he shook Steve’s shoulder.

“Oh fuck, I’ve broken him.” Danny smiled wryly and lay down beside Steve, pulling him into his arms, prepared to hold him and wait until he awoke.

~@~@~@~@~@~@~

Steve came awake slowly, his fingers absently tracing shapes on the arm that wrapped around him. That was when recent events came flooding back to him. He had never known that physical release could be that good. It had literally taken his senses off line, he had literally been about to orgasm and tried to tell Danny to stop but he could feel his eyes rolling back in his head and his world going dark. Sure he’d been getting his rocks off, but it had never, ever been anything like what Danny had done for him.  
“Welcome back, princess.” Danny’s voice was husky in his ear.

“I’m so sorry, D.” Steve rolled a little until he could see his face. Expecting to see him angry with him, he wasn’t prepared for the expression of fondness that was there. “Just give me a minute and I’ll take care of you.”

“There will be no taking care of me.” Danny shook his head. “That was all for you.”

“What about you. You didn’t?”

“No I didn’t, but I wasn’t bothered.” Danny murmured. “What did you think?”

“You even need to ask?”

“I’d like to hear it.” Danny shrugged. “You know, I like words.”

“Is it always like that?” Steve asked, pressing his face against Danny’s chest so he didn’t have to see his disapproval.

“It should be. Not always but, you know, mostly.”

“I want to blow you.”

“Next time.”

“Seriously, that was so much more than a blow job.” Steve pressed a kiss against Danny’s pecs. “So much more.”

“I’m glad, babe.” Danny sat upright. “C’mon, I decided while you were having your beauty sleep, we’re going to go and do your swim to China. Together. And then we’re going to dress like civilised people and go out to dinner. I made reservations.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Just before 7pm, Danny parked the Camaro in front of Morimoto’s and slid out of the door, leaving it open for the valet that was rushing towards them.  
“D, we didn’t have to come here.” Steve swung out of the passenger seat and closed the door behind him.

“Isn’t it your favourite restaurant?” Danny accepted the ticket from the valet and walked around to slip his arm around Steve’s waist.  
“You don’t like sushi. We could just as well have gone to that pizza place you like so much.”

“Which is not a special place at all. I wanted to go somewhere to show off my man. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to be doing?”

“I guess.” Steve looked around them, then leaned down and kissed Danny on the cheek.

Entering the restaurant, they were ushered to a semi-secluded table away from the prying eyes that were watching their progress through the large room. They dined on several delicious Japanese courses, often sharing from the same plate, hand feeding each other and holding hands across the table as they ate. At the end of their meal, they were greeted by Morimoto himself, who congratulated them on their marriage and wished them a long and happy partnership. When they walked out, the valet was just pulling into the space with the Camaro. Danny shook his hand and slid a twenty into his palm. They settled into the car, strangely with Danny at the wheel for the second time in two days. Danny drove off, but not towards home. He was taking Steve up to Roundtop to make out like teenagers at the lookout because he was nearly positive his romantically stunted husband had missed that part of his education.

“Have a good time tonight, babe?” Danny asked as they drove the winding road up Tantalus Drive. Glancing across at his partner who stretched lazily in the passenger seat, his long legs relaxed in front of him, one arm along the door and the other resting on the centre console, his head against the headrest but turned to face Danny, his eyes heavy.

“Mmmhmmm” Steve mumbled.

“You okay? You look tired.” Danny took one hand off the wheel and rubbed Steve’s hand on the console.

“Just thinking.” Steve shrugged.

“You’re not getting lost in your head again, are you?” Danny suggested casually, “Because you have to know we’re good, right?”

“I know that, D.” Steve’s grin was almost shy. “Just wondering what’s going to happen when we get home.”

Danny reached over and slid his hand up the inside of Steve’s thigh. “Anything you want to happen, big boy.”

Steve’s reply was halted when his mouth opened on a yawn that just about flipped the top off his head. 

“That’s lovely, that is. I put the moves on my husband and he’s bored by me.” Danny smiled at him. Steve never slept enough in his opinion. It’s like the man only slept when his body failed him, so if Danny could change that, it was a good thing.

“Sorry.” Steve grumbled as his eyes dropped closed.

“It’s alright. Sleep. You’re not going to get much tonight.” Danny added letting his fingers close on Steve’s hand as he settled back in his seat. “No make out sessions today, babe. We’ll have to save that until later.”

Danny waited until the next driveway and manoeuvred the car until he was driving down the hill again. He frowned as he yawned widely.

“It must be catching.” He mumbled to himself, releasing Steve’s hand to rub his hand over his face. Leaning forward he cranked the air conditioning, moving the vent so it was blowing cold air directly into his face to keep him awake. He slowed his speed as his eyes started to drop closed. His last thought as he slipped under was that they had been drugged. As his head dropped forward against the wheel, the car ran off the road, down an embankment, and slammed into a tree.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lou was woken at 5am by the jarring ringtone blaring from his phone. Rolling far enough to grab it from the bedside table, he held it to his ear.

“What?” He growled.

“We’ve got trouble.” Kono spoke, her voice filled with concern.

“How bad?” He opened his eyes and ran his fingers over his face.

“The newlyweds are missing.” 

“They’re what?” Lou sat bolt upright.

“They went to Morimoto’s for dinner, left there at about 10:30. They didn’t make it home and no one has seen them since. I’ve tried to track their phones, but they’re switched off. Chin and I are on the way to Roundtop at the moment.”

“Why there?” Lou paused from trying to balance on one leg, pulling on his pants to ask.

“The GPS in Danny’s car puts it there. Can you meet us there?”

“Send me the address? As soon as I’m dressed, I’m out the door.” Lou disconnected the call.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

By the time Lou pulled up, HPD had the Camaro, and a good portion of the surrounding area, taped off. The car was quite possibly written off, the powerful engine wrapped around the trunk of the tree it had impacted with. The passenger door had been ripped open on impact, but from what he could see, the driver’s door had been pried open. Charlie Fong and a team of his minions were swarming over the car. Lou strode towards Kono and Chin who were talking to Duke as they all leaned over a computer on the back of a police cruiser. 

“What do we know?” 

“Nothing.” Kono ground out.

“Kono.” Chin pacified his cousin. “Lou.” He nodded at his teammate. “We know that they were driving up here, why is a mystery. Charlie found a gas release system that was rigged to release when the car started. Judging by the position of the seats, Danny was driving. There are signs that they were injured, how badly we don’t know, but there is blood on both sides of the car. They’re printing the car now, particularly the areas around the gas installation. We’re going to find them.” Chin resolved.

Lou absorbed the information, trying to work out their options. “I’ll go to Morimoto’s, go through their guest list and staff. Someone there must know something.”

Duke stepped forward, “I have officers doorknocking for a mile either side of the accident site. It was a heavy impact, there must be someone who heard something. We will do anything we can to find Commander and Detective McGarrett.” He added with a nod before he stepped away to coordinate more officers.

“You know we would never hear the end of it if Danny heard that.” Kono mused sadly.

“McGarrett would wear it for days.” Lou nodded.

“Do you think we’ve done the wrong thing?” Chin asked.

“They suggested it themselves, we just pushed them in the right direction.” Kono defended their actions.

~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Steve woke slowly, a pounding throb in his head. The last time his head hurt this bad, he’d had a concussion from a beating he took on a case. Unsure of his location, he didn’t open his eyes; he listened and checked his own body for injuries. Aside from the throbbing in his head, his pants were stuck to his right calf. He couldn’t tell why it was without opening his eyes and he didn’t want to give himself away until he knew more. He desperately tried to recall his last memory.

“Danny!” his mind screamed at him.

They had been in the Camaro, going home from dinner. He couldn’t help himself; he opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings. His desperate hopes were dashed; there was no sign of his Danny.

“You’re awake.” A voice spoke to his left.

“Where’s Danny?” Steve croaked out, concerned by how much it hurt him to speak. 

“Isn’t that adorable?” he spoke, standing just outside of Steve’s peripheral vision. “The faggot wants his dirty little pet.”

“What have you done with him?” Steve growled, his throat feeling like it was filled with razor blades.

“You and I, we’re going to play a little game.” The voice continued from directly behind him.

“Fuck you!” Steve snarled struggling against his bonds. Now that his head wasn’t quite so muzzy, he realised that he was bound to a tree, with some sort of tape if he was right.  
A sharp pain sliced through his forearm as he struggled.

“Let me clarify the situation for you.” The voice was directly behind his head; Steve could feel the heat of the bastard’s body against his arms.

“Your fuck is underwater. He’s cuffed and chained to a jetty pylon with an air tank with about two hours of air. When I secured him, at least.”

“You’re going to tell me where he is.” 

“You’re right, I am. There is a photo stapled to a tree 2 miles northwest of here. I’m going to give you 5 minutes head start, then I’ll be tracking you. If I catch you, you both die. If I catch you and only injure you, then it’s up to you; if you get to him before his air runs out, I guess you’re in luck.” The voice whispered against his neck.

“Then cut me loose and let’s get started.”

“I knew you’d be more fun than the others.” A sinister chuckle accompanied the statement. “You’re a lot fitter than the others too. That’s why I need to do this.” A stabbing pain sliced through his left thigh. He didn’t have to look down to know a k-bar had plunged into his flesh. His teeth punctured his bottom lip as he struggled not to scream out in pain when the blade was withdrawn. “Can’t have you too strong now, can we?”

“Afraid I’m going to kick your ass?” Steve baited him.

“Careful Commander, you might bleed out before you find the tree and then your precious husband is definitely dead.” He sneered.

“Cut me loose and get this over with.”

“That would be too easy.” He laughed. “That’s your job.”

Steve tugged against the tape on his wrists. It wasn’t wrapped tightly, but it was too tight to just slip out of. He struggled against it; he could feel it ripping, but not nearly quickly enough. His fingers were slick with what he assumed was his own blood and he could feel blood trickling down his leg, but all he could think about was Danny. His Danny is claustrophobic and hated the ocean water; every minute he was spending underwater would be like an hour to him. With almost inhuman strength, Steve pulled his hands apart and felt the tape split enough that he could slip his hands from the tattered strips. Toppling forward onto his hands and knees, the sudden change in altitude sent a lance of blinding pain through his head. He clambered to his feet, stumbling a little. Pausing he took his shirt off, ripped the sleeve from it, and tied it tightly around his thigh, hoping it would slow down the bleeding and give him a fighting chance to survive long enough to save Danny.

Tearing a strip from the tattered remains of his shirt, he wrapped it roughly around his forearm.

“I’m coming, D.” He spoke to the sky as he looked up, trying to gauge the direction he needed to travel in. 

Choosing a direction, he set off, starting his pace at a slow jog, trying to increase his pace as he ran over tree roots and other rainforest detritus. As he ran, he tried to work out how long they had been missing and determine the possibility of the team already looking for them. Castigating himself with every step that he hadn’t told anyone on the team of the plans he had set in place for just this eventuality.

Knowing that his team would refuse his request, he had arranged at their last group physical to be implanted with tracking chips under the guise of a vaccination implant. Was it ethically wrong? Definitely. Right at the moment did he give a flying fuck? Absolutely not. He had a fair idea he was in the Kahuku reserve. If he was, he only knew of one jetty that was in running distance from here, it was a rickety old structure not far from Punaluu Beach. He wished that he could trust his intuition, but if he were wrong, Danny would be dead. As it was, there was the distinct possibility that he already was. Something in his heart died at that thought, so he pushed himself harder, lifting his pace. He should almost be to his destination, he could grab the picture and run for the nearest house and call Chin. He’d be able to track Danny’s location. On a good day, he could do two miles in nine or ten minutes, but today was not a good day. He was losing more blood than he was happy with from the wound in his thigh; he could feel the sluggish bleed seeping with every step. There was something wrong with his other leg; it didn’t feel right inside and his pants were wet with dried blood. The pounding in his head was increasing exponentially and there was something wrong with his throat, the razor blades had taken up permanent residence, but nothing short of falling dead on the ground would stop him doing his very best to save Danny.

Lifting his head, he scanned the forest ahead of him. Blinking the sweat from his eyes, he frowned as he spotted something that looked like an advertising poster attached to a tree about 550 feet in front of him to the right, up the crest of a hill through a large patch of prickly pua kala. He paused for a moment, leaning forward to rest his hands on his thighs and catch his breath. The minute he leaned forward, a wave of insidious vertigo overwhelmed him and he toppled forward onto his hands and knees. Scrabbling to his knees, he pushed up and stood shakily.

“You really didn’t think you were going to win, did you Commander?” That voice called him. 

Steve’s head spun as he turned and struggled to squint into the dim light that filtered through the rainforest canopy and catch sight of his nemesis.

“I played by the rules.” Steve called. 

“Bullshit. You’re military. You’re a faggot. You just married that little piece of shit. Neither of you deserve to breath. How dare you flaunt yourselves like that?” 

“Yeah, yeah I get it. You hate gays. Let’s get this over with, I’ve got a good man to save.”

“You’re a worthless piece of shit. You don’t deserve to wear that uniform or those medals. You should have been dishonourably discharged.”

“You think I don’t know that I’m worthless? Trust me, I’ve been told by better men then you are. Just get this over with so I can do what I need to do.”

Steve flinched as an arrow whizzed past his shoulder and embedded itself into the ground behind him.

“There’s something I don’t understand.” Steve ground out. “Why did you kill the straight couple? I’m assuming you killed them too.”

“They weren’t straight.” Another arrow hit the ground beside his foot. “They came into the restaurant all the time, another couple shared their bed. They were even more perverse than the others.”

“How many?”

“How many what?” An arrow plunged into the ground between Steve’s feet. “I’ve eliminated fourteen pieces of filth, or I will have when you two are gone.”

“You’re sick.”

“Au contraire, Commander, you’re the sick one.” 

“Loving another person is not a sickness, it’s a blessing.”

“Make your peace, Commander.” The voice called.

“Just do it you sick fuck. I don’t want to live in a world that Danny isn’t in, and if you don’t kill me, I will hunt you down and I will take you apart piece by piece.”

The force of the arrow when it hit him spun him around and he hit the ground with a bone jarring thud, a strangled scream ripped from his throat as the shaft penetrated his shoulder, the point imbedding itself in the dirt.

“The pleasure was all mine, Commander.” The disembodied voice cackled. “I’ll be back tomorrow, after you’ve had time to bleed out, slowly and painfully, and the wild boars have had their fill. That’s why I like the Kahuku; the boars here are savage and hungry. Even if you survive until nightfall, they’ll tear you to pieces.”

Steve struggled to maintain consciousness; his entire body a pulsing throb of pain filled agony. He lay there motionless, his strength was fading, he didn’t have enough to fight the crazy bastard should he come and check on his kill. He waited as long as he dared before pulling the shaft free of the loose dirt and drunkenly hauling himself to his feet. Staggering forward to a tree, Steve leaned his back against it. He wrapped shaking fingers around the shaft and pulled with all his might. He whimpered as he pulled it out of his body, the wet slurping sound as it came free turning his stomach. Steve turned and held onto the rough bark, his stomach retching as he emptied his stomach of the bile that burnt his throat on the way out. Flecks of red coloured the yellowish liquid that splashed against his shoes.

At least now he knew where he was. He was right when he had guessed where he was; now he only needed to get to a phone. Fever glazed eyes scanned the area and he stumbled forward. Choosing a direction, he clumsily staggered towards civilisation. 

He lost track of time as he struggled through the rainforest. Every time he stumbled and fell to his knees, he thought of the horror that Danny was enduring and knew that he couldn’t give up. Danny trusted him to have his back and he was not going to fail him now.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Lou strode back into the office. They finally had a focus and might be able to get this son of a bitch before Steve and Danny ran out of time. Jabbing a thumb drive into the tech desk, he waited for the documents to load. Flicking his bounty onto the overhead screens, he stepped closer and studied the documentation closely. Feeling his teammates joining him, he spoke.

“I think we’ve got something.”

“What are we looking for?” Kono frowned as she looked between the screens.

“This is the guest register.” Lou pointed at one screen. “This is the staff timesheets. And this one is the list of our missing people.” Lou explained. “I went through this stuff with Morimoto himself, he’s very concerned about our boys by the way, and we’ve discovered something interesting. All four couples visited the restaurant in the days before they went missing.”

“At least now we know the commonality.” Chin mused.

“Oh I can do better than that friend.” Lou grinned. “There is only one employee that was working on all four nights.”

“I think we need to pay him a visit,” Kono growled, closing her hand into a tight fist as she spoke.

“You two go. I’ll see what background I can pull up on him.” Chin instructed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Lurching up the stairs of the first house he came to, Steve almost sobbed when a white haired old lady opened the door as he knocked.

“Keiki, what has happened to you?” she opened the door and tried to usher him into her house.

“Please, Auntie, I’m Lt Commander Steven McGarrett.” Steve sobbed in relief.

“I know who you are, where is your husband?”

Steve almost collapsed at her recognition. “Please Auntie, he is in danger, I need to use your phone.”

“Anything you need, I’ll get it for you.” 

Steve leaned up against the doorjamb, his body beginning to fail him but he couldn’t let go until he had his Danny safe.

He was dazed, spots dancing in front of his eyes, when the elderly woman returned with a cordless phone and a glass. She pressed the phone into his hand.

“Thank you.” He mumbled, his fingers trembled as he stabbed Chin’s phone number into the phone.

“Kelly.” Chin answered sharply on the second ring.

“Chin.” Steve’s voice was broken as he tried to speak. “Danny. Danny hasn’t got much time.”

“Steve where are you?” 

“Near Kahuku. There’s an app on the desktop. It’s called S&R, password is Monkey. The blue dot is Danny. You won’t get here in time by car. Call Kamekona. I’m going there now, but I don’t know if I’ll make it.”

“We’re on our way, Steve.” Chin responded, “Stay where you are.”

“I can’t lose him, Chin.” Steve’s voice broke. He couldn’t hold in the broken sobs that bubbled from him, being strong and stoic in front of his teammates no longer mattered. 

Nothing mattered if he lost Danny.

“Remind me to have words about microchipping your team when this is done.” Chin’s voice was tight.

“The perp. He works at Morimoto’s, I think he’s the valet.” 

“He is. Lou and Kono are on their way to pick him up now.”

“Tell them to be careful, he’s a sick bastard.” Steve disconnected the call.

The homeowner took the phone from his hand and pressed the glass to his hand. “Coconut water and sugar. Drink it, does good for hurts. My Aheahe swore by it, his mother’s secret antidote.”

Steve tried to press the glass back into her hand but she lifted the glass to his lips and pushed it until he drank at least of half of it. Surprisingly, the sweet liquid gave blessed relief to his throat.

“Auntie, do you have bolt cutters?” he put one bloodstained hand on her shoulder. 

“Kaiana.” She stated. “You are not going anywhere like that young man.”

“Kaiana? Danny is chained to a pylon at a jetty not far from here. I can’t live without him, so it’s find him or die trying. Either way, we’ll be together.”

“It touches my heart, to see a love like my Aheahe and I had. Go and get into my car, it’s in the driveway there. Can you get there on your own?” At Steve’s nod she continued. “I’ll get the keys and the bolt cutters and be right there.”

Steve stumbled down the stairs, falling to his knees at the side of the car. He picked himself up by clinging to the door and falling into the passenger seat.

As he did, Kaiana climbed into the driver’s seat and poked the key into the ignition, handing the bolt cutters to Steve. She put a hand on his cheek and looked into his face.  
“Don’t you worry Steve, the truest heart will always succeed.”

Steve wasn’t sure, but he thought he drifted in and out of consciousness as Kaiana sped along the road, pulling around slower cars and gunning the engine as hard as she could. Steve clawed his way back to semi-awareness as he felt the car stop.

“Steven, we’re here.” Kaiana touched his shoulder with gentle hands. “What can I do to help?”

“You’ve done enough Auntie, I can’t thank you enough.” He stumbled from the car and staggered along the rickety boards. Trying to see into the water as he moved, he noticed small bubbles popping on the surface of the gently undulating waves. Dropping to his knees in relief, tears of joy trickled down his cheeks. He could hear the distant sound of helicopters rotors when he noticed that the bubbles he had been watching stopped.

“Nooo!” he wailed to the sky and, with an economy of motion, he rolled into the water. Paddling in the water, he let himself sink, his eyes scanning the murky water. Seeing the familiar golden hair waving in the water, he was at Danny’s side in two strokes. Danny’s hands were waving wildly in the water, his eyes wide with fear. Steve didn’t hesitate, he dragged Danny’s mask off and pressed his lips to his husbands. He puffed a mouth full of air into Danny’s mouth and then gestured that he was surfacing to get more air. Danny nodded in acknowledgment.

As Steve broke the surface, his head moved wildly as he scanned the jetty looking for the bolt cutters.

Seeing them in Kaiana’s hand, he gestured for her to pass them to him. 

“Not a chance young man, I’m coming down. Aheahe and I were oyster divers when we were young, get down there and look after your man.”

Steve didn’t have time to argue, he took a deep breath and dove back down to Danny. 

Blowing more oxygen into his mouth, he let his fingers trail over Danny’s cheek pushing all the love and affection he could into the simple gesture before he surfaced again.  
As he was submerging again, Kaiana was surfacing, he glanced at the chains and saw that she had cut two of the chains and had left the bolt cutters leaning on the bottom of the pylon. He pressed his mouth to Danny’s again, desperately begging him to stay alive long enough for Chin to arrive. By the time he returned to Danny and gave him more oxygen, Kaiana had cut the last chain. Steve looped his hands under Danny’s arms and pulled him with him to the surface. Kaiana surfaced behind them, paddling beside them in case they needed assistance.

Steve pulled Danny along with him, every fibre of his being screaming in agony as he moved, but not willing to stop until his Danny was on dry land and safe. He was vaguely aware of the helicopter landing somewhere close by, but his entire focus was on making sure Danny was safe. He struggled to his knees beside Danny, his hands feeling his partner’s limbs and torso, checking that he was okay.

“What the hell, Steven?” Danny spluttered. “Why exactly were you chumming the water I was stuck in?”

“What?” Steve frowned not quite following Danny’s words.

“Look at all the blood. Please tell me it’s the Crazy man’s?”

“Nope, all mine.” Steve grinned giddily as Chin walked up beside them, police officers and paramedics behind him. Seeing they didn’t need him urgently, Chin waded into the water to assist Kaiana.

“So why would you do that, do you know how many people are killed by sharks and you’re chumming my personal pond.” Danny waved his cuffed hands at Steve.

“Oh. My. God. I'm so sorry, I love you too much to let you die.” Steve mumbled.

“You are such a pain in my ass, Steven.” Danny continued to rant at Steven for a few seconds before Steve’s words sank in. “Wait! You love me?”

Steve’s eyes grew fond and one hand reached out to touch Danny’s lips with his fingertips. “Yeah.” He murmured, before his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell forward, landing face down in the water.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Steve clawed his way back through pain filled darkness. His head felt sluggish and his limbs were heavy, too heavy to move. He tried to lift his hand to brush something from his face, but all he could manage was spastic twitching of his fingers. He needed to speak, but all that came out was a garbled grunt. Somewhere in the room, he heard a chair topple over, but no matter how hard he tried, his eyes wouldn’t focus. Danny! He had to find Danny. He needed to make sure he was alive. He couldn’t remember. Had they saved him? He couldn’t hear him. If Danny was alive, surely he would be here. He heard a wail of heartbroken agony and it took some time before he realised that it had come from him. As he sank back under the shroud of oblivion, he felt gentle touches on his hand attempting to sooth him, but it was too late; he could feel his heart breaking, he didn’t care anymore, he had nothing left to live for.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Danny had no idea what had happened to Steve. He would only find out when Steve awoke. No, if he woke up. The hospital staff had been careful to tell him. Repeatedly. Everyone who had even the smallest hand in Steve’s treatment was amazed that he was still fighting.

Danny had spent two hours staring into the murky faces of three victims. Every minute of that time he had castigated himself for wasting so much time. He’d been afraid of crossing a line with Steve that would mean the end of their friendship. For five years he’d witnessed and participated in the flirting with his boss, partner, and best friend. His own fear had stolen that time from them and he was certain that he was going to die in that murky water.

He, however, had underestimated the determination and will power of his apparently superhuman husband. When he’d seen Steve dive into the water and breath for him, his heart had almost stopped. Even while they were underwater, he could see tendrils of what he knew was blood dissipating in the current. When they’d reached the beach, he couldn’t help himself, he’d started ranting at him, his own fear taken out on the person who had given himself to save Danny.

When Steve had pitched forward into the water, he panicked. In that instant he thought he had gotten Steve back only to lose him minutes later. He’d clutched at his shoulders, desperately dragging his face out of the water. His own strength had been sapped by hours spent in chilled water and his struggles with the chains that had bound him. Chin materialised at his side and unlocked the handcuffs still on Danny’s wrists. As soon as one hand was clear, Danny’s trembling arms hauled Steve against his chest and hugged him tightly.

Everything that had happened on that small strip of gritty sand was etched into Danny’s memory like a bad dream. He remembered Chin having to drag him from Steve so the paramedics could assist him. A second ambulance arrived and tried to assist Danny, but he wouldn’t let himself be taken any further from Steve’s side. Eventually he let himself be attended to, but only because he had been told categorically that he wouldn’t be travelling in the same ambulance.

He’d let himself be admitted for the night and waited on tenterhooks for hours while Steve was subjected to surgery. Surprisingly, he had no broken bones; well technically not, four cracked ribs weren’t really broken. Steve’s main danger was his loss of blood; his headlong run through the rainforest had exacerbated the problem. His medico’s had been amazed to hear how far he had travelled by foot. 

Since the morning after the ‘event’, as everyone was now calling it, he’d been sitting here at Steve’s side, desperately trying to calm him as he suffered misery inside his own head. He hadn’t known how to draw him out of the suffering, other than to be here when he awoke. He’d watched Steve’s twitching, his eyelids flickering, as he relived some of the horror inside his body.

Kaiana, Steve’s angelic accomplice, visited the hospital to check on ‘her favourite couple’ and retold the tale of how Steve had saved his life, and more importantly, the declarations that Steve had made to her. Danny was amazed at the depth of emotion that his partner had shared with the elderly woman. It stunned him just how wrong he had been about Steve’s emotional constipation. That wasn’t the case at all. He had so much emotion hidden behind that stoic Navy indifference that Danny was certain that his beautiful husband felt more than other humans. Hiding it from the world was the only way that he could survive and still remain whole.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next time Steve awoke, he laid there with his eyes closed, not wanting to draw attention to his wakefulness. He didn’t want to talk to anyone, not to hear meaningless platitudes over his loss. It wasn’t his loss. It was Grace’s, it was the loss of the population of Oahu, and they had lost their protector, their white knight. Steve didn’t deserve to feel sorry for himself; it was his fault Danny was gone. Danny had told him that from their very first case. He knew that Steve would get him killed and, lo and behold, he had. A sob of abject heartbreak, that was too overwhelming to withhold, echoed through the near silent room. It took him a moment to realise that the desolate sound had come from him. He heard the scrape of chair legs and the gentle touch of fingers on his face. Cold fingers cupping his cheek, the tips brushing falling tears from Steve’s cheeks.

“Babe, what’s going on in that head of yours?” Danny’s voice murmured.

Was that really Danny? Or was it his head wanting his Danny so much that he was imagining it. That must be Chin. His psyche was seriously fucking with him.

“No.” he grunted out, the word barely audible. 

“No what?”

“He’s dead. Know it.” Steve mumbled.

“Oh babe. Don’t you remember? You saved me.” Danny lifted Steve’s hand, pressed his lips to the scraped knuckles and then held Steve’s hand in both of his.

“He knew I would get him killed. Never good enough for him.”

“Nothing’s ever easy with you is it?”

Steve felt movement on the bed and tried to shuffle away from it, but the pain of that small movement took his breath away. He felt warmth beside him and the gentle affection in the arm that loop across his body just under his ribs.

“I don’t want to hurt you, babe.” Danny’s voice whispered in his ear. “But this is the only way I can think of to prove you are wrong.”

“D?” his voice wavered, tears collected on his lashes.

“You great big lug.” Danny leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to Steve’s stubbly cheek. “I’ve been here with you for three days. I was so worried about you.”

“I’m good.” Steve whispered as he drifted back into darkness, this time restful sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Steve spent a further four days in hospital, each day growing stronger. His surgery had repaired muscular damage in his shoulder and thigh. A deep laceration in his calf was later determined as being caused by the car accident, the bruising caused by the seat belt across his throat had started to appear on his neck and was currently a deep rosy blue. Skin glue had closed the slash in his forearm caused by a box cutter. His physicians had denied him a return to work for a minimum of a month, reminding him that extensive physiotherapy would be required to get him back to top form, which had inspired a scowl of frustration.

Chin and Lou ferried their teammates to Steve’s house and deposited Steve gently in his own bed. Danny flapped and flustered around him, making him comfortable until Steve cracked.

“D, you’re not my maid.” He huffed as Danny straightened the blankets and fluffed his pillows for the third time.

“No, I’m you’re husband; it’s my job to care for you.” Danny perched on the side of the bed.

“Not for much longer.” Steve answered.

“What does that mean?” Danny frowned, taking one of Steve’s hands in his own.

“I promised you an annulment after this was finished.” Steve shrugged.

“Do you want that?” Danny looped his fingers under Steve’s chin and forced him to look up at him.

“Haven’t I proven anything to you?” Steve murmured.

“I need the words, Steve.” Danny whispered.

Steve sat there, convulsively swallowing. It was obvious, to Danny at least, he was struggling not to cry. It hadn’t escaped Danny’s attention that Steve’s emotions were so close to the surface over the last week, that the slightest word could push him into an emotional meltdown.

“No, I don’t want that, but I know that you do.”

“How do you know that?” Danny leaned forward and rubbed his thumb across the frown lines on Steve’s forehead, smoothing the expression away.

“You told me.” Steve’s head tilted to the side, the way every single one of Danny’s dogs had done when they didn’t understand what he had said.

“Well, forget what I said, I was crazy and insecure and don’t know what the hell I was thinking.”

“That’s the shock from your ordeal talking, D.” Steve responded.

Danny opened his mouth to respond and closed it again, dumbfounded at Steve’s suppositions. He opened his mouth again to respond, but was forestalled by a loud knocking at the door.

“This is not done.” He stood, pointing his finger at Steve. “Do not move.” He ordered him as he walked out of the room. Running down the stairs, he swung the door open, startled to see the Governor on the lanai.

“Good afternoon, Sir.” Danny stood straighter, disappointed that he was wearing cut offs and a t-shirt. 

“You’re off the clock, Detective. Please, I’m just Sam.” He shook Danny’s outstretched hand.

“If that’s the case, Sam, it’s Danny, please.” Danny smiled at him.

“How’s Superman?” Sam asked.

“I’m fine.” Steve answered, hobbling painfully down the stairs.

“What did I tell you?” Danny sighed in exasperation. “You’ll tear your stitches.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Steve shrugged.

“Sit down.” Danny bustled around him and helped lower him onto the sofa, putting two cushions on the coffee table and carefully lifting his legs up to rest on them.

“Can Danny get you a coffee, Sam?” Steve asked 

“Actually, I wouldn’t say no to a beer.” Sam smiled at Danny as he settled into Steve’s recliner.

“Two beers, one coconut water, coming right up.”

“One beer won’t kill me, D.”

“That’s right because you’re not having one so it won’t hurt you.”

Steve’s only response was to sigh because he knew no matter how hard he tried, he wasn’t going to get a beer any time soon.

“What can we do for you, Sam?” Steve asked as Danny walked back into the room.

Sam waited until Danny was sitting stiffly beside Steve. “I have a couple of things I’d like to ask you and a couple of things to tell you.”

“Any way we can help.” Steve answered, “You know that.”

“I haven’t wanted to burden either of you too much, I know what an agonising ordeal you’ve both just been through, but I would really like an account of what happened, in your own words. I’ve read the police reports, but I want to hear it from you; I’m having trouble trying to understand why someone would do that.”

Danny dared a glance at Steve, trying to gauge what his reaction would be. He knew from past experience that Steve became monosyllabic and terse when forced to give verbal reports of his ‘exploits’, but with his emotions so close to the surface, he wasn’t sure how he would tolerate recounting the events that led to his fragility. They hadn’t even talked about it together yet. When Steve gave his statement, he had specifically asked for a HPD officer, not one of the team members. Steve hadn’t even asked about the perp. Danny most definitely didn’t want to talk about it in front of Steve, he was already feeling more than enough guilt for something that wasn’t his fault.

“I can understand if you’re reticent to tell me. Just as I can see it was a hideous experience for the both of you. You don’t have to recount everything. I just want to understand.”

“I’m not sure how much help I can be,” Steve spoke slowly. “Everything is very muddled in my head at the moment.”

“I understand that, Steve, anything you can tell me would be a bonus.”

“Danny could probably tell you more. I fell asleep in the car.” Steve shook his head. “Maybe if I had been able to stay awake, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Don’t start, Steven.” Danny sighed. “He put a chemical sprayer in the A/C vents; neither of us could have done anything. I just held out longer because my vents were closed.”  
“I woke up taped to a tree trunk.” Steve spoke in a monotone voice, the memories playing like a movie in his head. “He was careful to stay behind me, I could barely catch him in my peripheral. He told me that he had left Danny with maybe two hours of air and if I was good enough, I could save him. He likes to play with knives; while he was talking to me, he was slicing my skin, with a box cutter I think. He apologised, when he left, for putting a K-bar through my thigh.”

“Apologised?” Danny frowned at him

“He said he was sorry that he had to stab me, but he didn’t want me to do too well.”

“What did you have to do?”

“He gave me a head start to find the clue to where D was, and then he was going to hunt me down and kill me.”

“Big of him.” Danny snorted.

“I almost got there, I was pretty sure I knew where he had you. I knew I was in the Kahuku reserve.” Steve’s head dropped and he spoke into his chest. “He caught me, tried to scare me, but put an arrow through my shoulder. Left me there for dead, said the boars wouldn’t leave enough to bother with and he’d dispose of the rest of me later.” Steve drew in a deep shuddering breath, his hand brushed across the sofa to find Danny’s hand and gripped it tightly. “As soon as I knew he was gone, I pulled the arrow out and went looking for Danny. Kaiana was so much help. She did more than I did, she cut his bonds while I breathed for him.”

The Governor sat there in silence for a moment. “That is horrifying, Steve.”

“No worse than SEAL missions.”

“I’m not sure that’s accurate, babe.” Danny lifted Steve’s hand to kiss his knuckles.

“Danny?” Sam asked, “What about you?”

“Nothing really.” Danny responded. “I knew something was wrong when Steve clocked out in the car. I was starting to feel off so I started to slow down, but I just didn’t quite get there. I was semi-conscious when he took us. Steve was bleeding badly. The part of the door sliced his calf. I didn’t feel too bad, just had a killer headache. He saw I was waking up and held something over my face; the next thing I remember was being cuffed and wearing an air tank. He was wearing a wetsuit and diving mask and gave me a lovely little image of what he was planning to do to Steve. Told me that I was getting the easy way out. He’d perfected his technique and I’d die by just running out of air, Steve would suffer, slowly and painfully and hopefully he’d still be alive when the feral animals ripped him apart. But before that, he’d suffer intensely because he would know that he failed me.”  
“Clearly the military part of the couple is the one he had the real problem with.” Sam suggested.

“That was my assumption.” Steve nodded.

“He threw me over the edge of the deck and waited until he’d chained me before he turned the air on. I was trying to stay calm so I didn’t use the air as fast, but I discovered three other bodies. Well I could clearly see two, and I was sure that the shadow I could see further away was a third.”

“I’m sorry, D.” Steve mimicked Danny’s earlier action and brought Danny’s hand to his lips and kissed them.

“For the love of God, Steven. None of this was your fault.” Danny jumped to his feet and stalked across the room; stopping in the office doorway, he lifted his hands to run through his hair. “If it was anyone’s, it was mine. I was the one that served us up on a platter for him. Just stop apologising.”

At the stricken look on Steve’s face, Sam’s look begged Danny to come and sit down. “It’s nobody’s fault but the perp.” He coaxed Danny.

Danny walked back and slumped onto the sofa beside Steve again.

“I have some information for you both.” He waited until both men were looking at him. “Kaiana’s vehicle was fairly badly stained. I was going to have the car detailed for her, but when I realised just how much she assisted in your rescues, I decided to provide her with a brand new vehicle. Your vehicle is already ready to collect, whenever you are ready.”

“Thank you governor.” Steve responded. “She was a godsend.”

“I need the two of you to come to a decision about your marriage situation.” He held up a hand as he could see them both about to interrupt. ”There is no rush, but I have a surprise, or rather a gift for you, to show my appreciation of not only your dedication to this case, but the entirety of the cases that you shoulder for this state.” He took a long pull from his beer and continued speaking. “I want to reiterate that whichever way you decide to go, it will bear no consequences to your working partnership.”

Danny turned to look at Steve, his hand reaching out to take hold of Steve’s and then turned back to the Governor. “If it’s alright, I’d like to speak for both of us.”

“Danny, please don’t.” Steve murmured.

“No, shut up, McGarrett. I’m not in shock or grateful or any other bullshit you want to paint me with. I love you and I want to be with you forever. So if it’s no problem, Mr. Governor, Sir, there will be no annulment. I love this crazy superhero bastard and want to show him that he is worthy of being loved the way he needs to be.”

“I was hoping you would say that. I believe most of the HPD has been praying for you two to ‘get your shit together’, I believe is what Sgt Lukela suggested.” Sam reached inside his jacket and pulled out an envelope, which he placed on the coffee table. “In that envelope is the paperwork for two weeks at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel, all meals, activities, and car rental included. I took the liberty of checking with your doctors and you’ll find that your honeymoon commences when your anticipated sick leave concludes.” He waggled an eyebrow suggestively, “There’s no point going on a romantic honeymoon if you’re hurt too badly to move.”

“I don’t think we can accept that, Sir.” Steve stammered. “It’s too much for just doing our jobs.”

“Already paid for, incidentally, by a collection from HPD and HFD, and I, personally, don’t think its adequate compensation for what you have just gone through.”

**Two Weeks Later.**

By mutual agreement over the last two weeks, whilst they had slept in the same bed, they’re bodies wrapped around each other, neither of them had either mentioned or instigated marital activities. Their bodies had needed time to regroup and strengthen. Steve still wasn’t back to full speed; he was not as strong as he was before the ’event’, in fact, he was relying on a walking stick if he had to walk any great distance. Steve and Danny stepped off the Governor’s private jet at Hilo airport and walked onto the tarmac to find a shiny black limousine waiting for them with a large Hawaiian man in a black suit and cap holding a sign that said McGarrett-Williams.

Steve faltered at the side of the plane, his hand rising to his forehead rubbing at the furrows that had developed on their flight. Danny walked back to stand in front of him, stopping and resting a hand on Steve’s hip until he looked up into Danny’s face.

“What’s the problem, babe?” Danny probed.

“This is too much.” Steve murmured. “I don’t deserve this.”

“You do.” Danny pressed his other hand over Steve’s on the walking stick. “Why wouldn’t you?”

“I was doing my job, D. I nearly got you killed.” Steve shrugged.

“You really can’t take praise, can you?” Danny moved until he had his arm around Steve’s back, his fingertips tracing his trouser clad ass.

“I don’t do what I do for praise.” Steve responded as Danny prodded him into walking towards the limo.

“Neither do I, but clearly your brothers in arms appreciate your work. So just this once, you can shut up and appreciate it.”

The chauffeur watched them approach and moved forward to greet them. 

“Commander and Detective McGarrett”, he removed his cap and bowed to them. “My name is Koa, I’ll be your driver during your stay on our island.” He extended a card with his name and number on it to both men. “The air conditioning is running and there is chilled champagne and strawberries in the vehicle. Please make yourself comfortable while I collect your luggage. I’ll return in a moment and we’ll be on our way.” He held the door open for them to climb in before he closed it behind them and went on his way to seek out the luggage.

Danny settled back into the squishy leather seats in the limo, lifting his feet and crossing them on the seat in front of him; he took two glasses that were filled with icy cold champagne. Turning towards where Steve was sitting straight in his seat, he pushed a glass towards his husband.

“Babe, settle down,” Danny sighed, “It’s a limo, this is how they are. Have your champagne.”

“I’ve seen a limo before Daniel.” Steve huffed as he sank back into the seat. 

“Have you ever wanted to kill one before?” Danny couldn’t help the laugh in his voice.

“I’m glad you think it’s funny.” He took a mouthful of his champagne.

“You’re right, it’s not funny.” Danny nodded at him, he lifted a chocolate tipped strawberry from the bowl and, leaning across Steve’s lap, brushed the plump fruit across Steve’s bottom lip.

“I don’t know why they would do this.” Steve opened his mouth and bit into the strawberry slowly, the juice as the fruit ruptured trickling down Danny’s thumb.

“I know it’s a difficult concept for you, but just this once, can you understand that people love you, Steven. You’re not just the hard ass you think you are, there is so much more to you than that.

“I never have been before.” Steve shrugged as he watched Danny pushing the other half of the strawberry between his lips.

Seeing the way Steve’s eyes followed the path of the strawberry, Danny shamelessly bit into it slowly, following the trail of juice with his tongue, letting the tip flick out and contain the moisture.

“This is our honeymoon, babe, can you do something for me?”

“You know I’d do anything for you.” Steve met his eyes.

“Never been more aware of that than now babe.” Danny gently rubbed Steve’s tender thigh. “Enjoy this babe.” Danny murmured as Koa climbed into his own seat.

“Thank you for waiting gentlemen. Is there anywhere I can take you before the hotel?”

Danny looked at Steve and then turned back to Koa.

“I think we’re good, Koa.” Danny stated.

“I’ve taken the liberty of checking you in so you won’t be delayed at check in.”

“Thank you, Koa.” Steve’s voice was gruff as he responded.

“If it pleases the two of you, I had planned a short tour of the island before we go to the hotelI if you see something that you would like to do in your time here, please let me know and I’ll arrange it for you.”

“Wow, you certainly look after your guests.” Danny stated. “Is this normal?”

“I’m afraid not Detective McGarrett-Williams.” Koa turned to look at them through the gap. “When we learned that you were coming to this island to celebrate your happy event, we volunteered our services free of charge. Five-0 does a lot for this state. We wanted to show our appreciation for your hard work and caring.”

“Wow.” This time, even Danny was shocked by what he was hearing. 

Koa turned back around in his seat, “Please, sit back sirs, and enjoy the ride.”

Danny turned to check the stunned mullet expression on Steve’s face. He lifted another strawberry and brushed it back and forth across Steve’s bottom lip.

“Steve?” Danny whispered leaning into his husband, “Stop fretting about the fact that people actually love you and look at me.”

Steve turned his face towards him and pressed his forehead against Danny’s, opening his mouth and letting the rich, juicy berry slip between his lips. His teeth closed on the berry and he pulled back far enough to let the berry touch Danny’s lips. Danny’s mouth opened and his teeth closed on the berry. As they both bit down on the berry the juice trickled down their chins. Steve swallowed the berry and let his tongue trail across Danny’s face, licking the sweet juice from his stubbled skin. 

“I love you.” Steve murmured against his neck. He slipped his hand under Danny’s shirt and his fingers plucked at the mat of soft hair that covered Danny’s chest.

“Love you too, babe.” Danny murmured, his hands trailing across Steve’s thigh, his fingertips dancing across his lightweight trousers. His other hand moved up to clasp the back of Steve’s head and directed his mouth back to his own. 

Steve kissed like he did everything else, with his whole being. His tongue teased Danny’s, an erotic dance that aroused Danny like no one’s kisses ever had before. Pulling slightly away from each other, they struggled to catch their breath before Steve grinned that goofy, nervous grin he had and ducked his head to catch Danny’s mouth again, sucking his bottom lip into his mouth and nipping it gently with his teeth. Danny groaned into his mouth, pushed him back against the seat and deftly straddled him, pressing his open mouth against Steve’s and returning the kiss wetly. When they were both lightheaded and needing a breath, Danny pulled away, resting his forehead against Steve’s, his thumbs caressing his cheekbones.

“You are so going to have your world rocked this week.” Danny murmured as he kissed his face over and over again.

Neither of them noticed Koa activating the privacy screen between them.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

True to Koa’s word, he stopped at a distant entrance to the resort and transferred their luggage to their room before he knocked hesitantly at the window of the limo. He waited for both men to emerge from the vehicle, both sporting dishevelled hair and clothing and lips that were swollen like they had been bee stung.

“Gentleman, these are you key cards.” He handed them two cards with the hotel logo on it. “You are on the top floor and at the end of the corridor. If you require anything at all, please call me and I will arrange it.”

Steve blushed hotly, “Thanks Koa,” he nodded. “We won’t be needing you for at least three, no four days.”

“I’d be happy to make reservations for you at local restaurants?” 

“No, we’ll be ordering room service.” Steve almost choked on the words, knowing full well that Koa knew what they were planning.

“Yessir.” Koa nodded and walked around the vehicle to his driver’s side and leaned over the top of limo. “I’m sure the hotel has a hospitality honeymoon basket for you, however, if you require supplies or any additional amusement there is a quite reputable adult store that I can take you to.”

Steve nearly choked on his own breath as Koa spoke and Danny laughed in spite of himself. “I’m sure we’ll be fine, Koa.”

“All right then, gents, I’ll leave you to it.” He winked at them and then slid into the driver’s seat.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When they let themselves into the room, Danny pressed Steve against the back of the door and pulled him down to kiss him.

“Do you want to shower?” he asked against Steve’s mouth.

“Do you want me to?” Steve’s cheeks pinked understanding what Danny was asking.

“I thought you might like to. It was a sweaty trip and you’re tense and nervous.” Danny nodded with a grin.

“I’m a SEAL, for fucks sake.”

“Doesn’t mean that you can’t get nervous, babe.” Danny rubbed his shoulder. “A shower might relax you a little, loosen you up a bit so you stop freaking out so much.”

Steve pulled away from him and kissed him on the cheek. “Back in five.” 

He opened his duffel and pulled out his shower kit before locking himself in the bathroom.

While he was in the shower, Danny moved their luggage out of the way and retrieved the lube and condoms he had brought with them on the bedside table. He pulled the covers on the bed back and folded them down at the bottom of the bed. Opening the shutter doors to the balcony, he looked at the comfortable lounges and the total seclusion they had and wondered if his delicious husband would be comfortable with having some enjoyable times in the dappled sunlight.

Hearing the shower stop, he couldn’t wipe the grin from his face as he quickly divested himself of his clothes. He folded them and left them on the love seat in the corner and lay in the middle of the bed, propped up on a mountain of fluffy pillows. Wanting Steve to have no doubt of his feelings Danny wrapped his hand around his cock, semi-hard after their make out session in the limo. Danny looked up to see the huge mirror on the other side of the room, reflecting his actions back to him. The thought of being able to watch Steve from all angles added even more incentive to Danny’s actions. 

Hearing the bathroom door open, Danny moved his hand. Tilting his head to see his husband walk towards the bed, Danny couldn’t help the sad smile that touched his features.

“What’s wrong, D?” Steve frowned. He had always been hyper aware of Danny’s emotions.

“The new scars, I hate that I put them there.” Danny answered simply.

“You didn’t, he did.” Steve answered his voice flat and emotionless.

“You have to talk about it sometime, you know.” Danny’s reminded him.

“I don’t want to.”

“That’s too bad, babe.” Danny leaned over, resting his head on his hand.

“It happened, I’d prefer to move on.” Steve shrugged.

“Do you know you haven’t even asked his name? It’s always him or perp.”

“I don’t need to know his name, D.” 

“I didn’t say you had to, I just thought it was odd.” 

“Do we have to talk about this now?” Steve looked him in the eye.

“Not at all, you asked me.” Danny smiled at him and patted the bed beside him. “I thought you might like to join me here.”

Danny watched him limp to the bed. It was just a slight limp, and somebody who didn’t know him probably wouldn’t even see it. He knew Steve was still in pain too, but he’d refused pain relief for the last week. Danny was going to make sure Steve spent as much time off his feet as he could, and really, it was going to be such a hardship keeping him in bed now that he had permission to keep him there.

“Truth, Steven.” Danny asked as Steve slid onto the bed beside him. “Are you in pain?”

“I’m fine.” Steve brushed his concerns aside, sliding his fingers into Danny’s chest hair.

“Truth, babe, I’m not going to fuss or make you take anything, I just want to know.”

“A bit, nothing bad, just twinges mainly. Max says it will get better.” Steve shrugged.

“I’m sorry, you have manner of doctors at your fancy Tripler and you are taking your advice from the coroner?”

“I trust him.”

“I know babe, I know.” Danny rolled towards Steve and let their lips touch, his tongue licking the crease of Steve’s lips. He pulled back and let his hand brush down Steve’s side, his fingers dancing across the naked skin until he stopped, resting his hand on Steve’s hip.

“You’re driving this ship babe, we can keep going slowly, or we can go for home. Your choice.

“Have you changed your mind?” Steve’s eyes opened wide and he searched Danny’s face.

“How can you even think that?” Danny shook his head, “Do you have rocks in there?”

“You don’t want me.” Steve rolled onto his back.

“We’re not doing this again, Steven.” Danny rolled up to kneel by Steve’s side and straddled him before Steve could decline. “I love you, I want you, but I want this to be on your terms, not mine.”

“All I want is you. I’ve done everything I possibly can to prove that to you, I don’t know what else to do.”

“You almost killed yourself for me you great Neanderthal. I don’t want you dead, I want you hot and panting and writhing under me in my bed. I don’t know how much clearer I can make that.”

“Then fuck me, D.” Steve murmured. His face an open book to Danny, his eyes and lashes glistened with moisture. The hope and the love in those hazel orbs took Danny’s breath away.

“No.” Danny answered shortly.

Steve’s eyes closed, and Danny’s heart clenched when he saw a tear trickle from the corner of one eye and he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t hurt Steve, not like this, not like the way every other person he had ever loved had done.

“I won’t fuck you, Steve,” he whispered as he leaned forward and kissed the fallen tear away, “but I will make love to you.” He pressed kiss after kiss all over Steve’s face.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Steve wrapped his arms around Danny and let his husband ravage his mouth; Danny’s kisses were wet and hungry. His tongue teased Steve’s out to nip on the tip and scrape his teeth along the sensitive flesh. As they kissed, Danny’s body moved to cover Steve’s, their erections rubbing against each other as Danny’s hips rolled lazily against Steve, each undulating thrust pushing a gasp from Steve’s mouth. Danny pulled away from Steve, “Hey big guy, we’ve got two weeks,” he gasped. “Slow down.”

“I’m sorry.” Steve murmured, leaning in to suckle at Danny’s neck, the gentle suction raising a slight red bruise on his skin.

“Why are you sorry?” Danny leaned up on his elbows, his forearms under Steve’s shoulders, and one hand idly playing with the small curls behind Steve’s ears.

“Because I can’t do any of this right.”

“There is no right or wrong, babe.” Danny sighed and rolled onto his back, pulling Steve with him. “Sometimes I really hate your parents.”

“It’s not their fault,” Steve pressed his head against Danny’s chest. “When Dad sent me away, sent us away, I lost my home, I lost my best friend.” He looked up into Danny’s face. 

“You didn’t know Mare was my best friend, did you?” He didn’t wait for a response; he laid his head back down on Danny’s chest. “I lost everything, instead I got Joe. I could never do anything that really made him happy. I could have gone out whoring with my classmates but I didn’t, I trained longer and harder, I did extra language and cryptography classes, I did anything I could to earn Joe’s favour. Look where that fucking got me.”

He went silent for a moment, his face tilted into the warm gentle touch of Danny’s hand on his face.

“Then I went to duty and he still kept pushing me, prompting me to extra classes, extra missions, anything he could, telling me how proud it would make him and Dad both. I climbed ranks faster than any of my classmates, I got into and beat the SEAL training.” 

“I would have been proud of you, babe.” Danny murmured. “Fuck that, I am proud of you.”

“Then my only real friend in the world died and it was my fault.” 

“Freddie’s death was a tragedy, babe, but it wasn’t on you.”

“It was. Joe said as much, as well as Dad.”

“Sweetheart, shit happens. The only thing that those events had in common was that people you were close to died.” Danny pulled him tighter into his arms. “How many times have you been tortured, beaten or, I don’t know, nearly killed because you’re trying to help someone you love?”

“That doesn’t matter, D.” Steve spoke as he snuggled into Danny’s shoulder. “I have the skills to help, so I will.”

“Why doesn’t it matter?” 

“Because I don’t have anyone who depends on me.”

“What am I?” 

“I meant before.” Steve shrugged.

“Steven, honest to God, I am going to fucking hurt you if you start with that I don’t matter bullshit again. Do you hear me?”

“I won’t, but I don’t want to disappoint you. I’m not anywhere good enough for you, but I love you, and I can’t even bear to think of life without you.”

“Steven J. McGarrett that is the very last time that you will ever tell me you aren’t good enough for me. Or anyone for that matter.”

Steve rolled to lean up on his elbows and looked Danny in the eyes.

“Okay.” Steve agreed. “I’ll try, but it might take me a while to actually believe it.”

“That’s all I can ask, babe.” Danny ran his fingers through Steve’s longer than normal hair. “I like this, can you keep it like this?”

“It’s not regulation.” Steve shrugged.

“Live life on the edge, babe.” 

“I’ve been close enough to the edge lately, baby.” Steve shuddered as he responded

“Sorry.” Danny leaned in to press a kiss to his forehead.

Steve smiled at him and pressed Danny back on the bed, kissing him wetly, licking across his lips, occasionally stopping to suck in his bottom lip and nibbling it before kissing him again. Lifting his head to look at his partner, Steve grinned at him cheekily, putting his hands on Danny’s biceps and lifted himself up to straddle Danny. He trailed his mouth down his husband’s torso, licking his obliques and plucking the furry hair that covered it. Tilting his head to look into Danny’s face he was surprised to see his eyes were heavy lidded and dilated.

“Is it alright if I….” Steve started.

“If you don’t, I might explode, babe.” Danny groaned as Steve’s chin brushed across Danny’s renewed erection.

Steve tilted his head to the side and let Danny’s cock rest between his shoulder and his neck, rocking his head gently, watching Danny’s fists clenching on the pillow beside his head.

“Steven.” Danny panted.

“Yeah?” Steve answered laconically, smiling at his partner.

“Please, babe. You’re killing me.”

“Love you.” He murmured as he flicked his tongue rapidly across the tip of Danny’s swollen cock.

“Ohh, fuck.” Danny moaned as his back arched, his head pushing back into the pillows.

Steve smiled around Danny’s cock as he pushed down as far as he could on Danny’s penis. His injured leg twinged as he knelt over his lover, but that didn’t stop him; he slowly pushed down until his nose was almost buried in Danny’s pubic hair. As his mouth slid back up the swollen flesh, he smiled realising that all his training had purpose, if not the intended purpose. Sucking tightly, he let his mouth glide again, opening his throat and swallowing convulsively.

“Oh babe.” Danny groaned, fighting against Steve’s hold on his arms. “Let me touch you, babe.”

Steve released his arms, his head dipping faster and faster on Danny’s cock, one hand moving to support his weight and take the pressure off of his leg, the other moving to circle Danny’s cock and rapidly stroke the base as his mouth bobbed tightly on the tip. Danny struggled to lift himself up onto his elbows, his half lidded contemplation of his partner making his mouth water and his hips thrust unconsciously upwards.

Glancing up, Steve caught Danny’s gaze and held it as he sucked faster, his teeth barely scraping the hard flesh in his mouth, but it made Danny curse and twitch underneath his lover. Reaching down, Danny hooked his hands under Steve’s armpits and pulled him back up his body until he could kiss him on the lips. Saliva trickled down Steve’s chin as their open mouths met in a wet, sloppy kiss.

“You are going to kill me, babe.” Danny murmured as he licked across his cheek and caught Steve’s earlobe in his teeth, tugging gently.

“Like you’re killing me?” Steve hissed as Danny’s tongue circled his ear.

“We’ll go together then, how we belong.” Danny sighed as his hand slipped down Steve’s belly, slowly wrapping around his weeping cock.

“Male Ana E Pili Mai Aloha Kaua.” Steve whispered into Danny’s hair.

“I don’t know what that is, Steven, but I want I need you.” His free hand cupped the side of Steve’s face and turned him to look into his eyes. “I want to be inside you babe, but I want you to be ready for us.”

In response, Steve release his hold on Danny’s hip and rolled onto his back, his hands clasping his knees as he pulled them up to his chest.

“Eager much?” Danny asked as he crawled across the bed to grab the lube and a condom from the bedside table, before reaching to push Steve’s legs down.

“Not that quick, babe.” Danny smiled. “I’m not a wham, bam guy, and I don’t think you are either.”

Steve nodded. He reached out for Danny and pulled him towards him by the shoulders, kissing him as he fell forward.

“Do something for me?”

“Anything, D.” Steve panted as Danny’s hands swirled across his chest.

“Put your hands over your head for me?”

Before the words were even out of his mouth, Steve’s hands were above his head, crossed at the wrist. His body was pliant under Danny’s despite the tension that Danny could feel in his limbs. Danny pushed Steve’s legs apart kneeling between them. The backs of his fingertips trailed up the inside of Steve’s thighs, brushing across the crease in his thighs and stroking the wiry pubic hair as his gentle touch travelled up Steve’s body.

Danny placed his hands on either side of Steve’s ribs and leaned forward, pressing a chaste kiss to Steve’s lips, then leaned further and kissed him on the neck, nipping and suckling at his neck until he’d sucked a rosy bruise onto the golden flesh there. Trailing his mouth across Steve’s chest, he paid gentle and loving attention to the fresh pink scar below his shoulder. He followed the sparse scattering of hair down his chest and his taut belly, snuffling almost in the ridges of his six pack as he licked and tasted the skin.

Moving to kneel between Steve’s knees, he lifted Steve’s left leg and, starting at his feet, he kissed and licked and sucked his way all the way to Steve’s hip. He watched Steve twitching with need, his heavy cock lying against his trembling belly, a copious amount of liquid pooling at its tip. Laying that leg back on the bed, Danny lifted the other and repeated his journey, paying particular attention to the new scars that had been borne by the case that had brought them together. Danny would both hate and love those scars for the rest of his life.

“D.” Steve whined, his neck taut, teeth clenched, his fists squeezed so tightly that his knuckles were white.

“Not much longer, babe.” Danny murmured against the skin at the crease of his thigh. “Not long, I want to worship you the way you deserve.” He wasn’t sure how much longer he’d be able to hold out. He’d wanted Steve for so long that just touching him was almost enough to trip him over the edge and then some, but his need to show Steve what it was like to be truly loved was giving him a power over his body he didn’t realise he had.

Danny moved to lie in between Steve’s thighs, his tongue trailing the length on the underside of Steve’s cock, travelling across his balls, weighing them on his tongue and then dipping lower. His tongue brushed across Steve’s perineum and had to move his hands to hold Steve’s hips down as they arched off the bed and an animalistic moan left Steve’s lips. Holding his hips down, Danny pushed his thighs further apart with his shoulders and ducked lower, brushing his tongue across Steve’s hole. He frowned, flicking his tongue back and forth, he plunged it in quickly, over and over before he crawled back up Steve’s body and trailed his fingertips down Steve’s triceps.

“Do you have anything you want to tell me?” Danny asked, kissing him gently, as he lifted his hands down from above his head.

Danny hooked his finger under Steve’s chin. “Why are you embarrassed, you don’t need to be with me.”“I may have prepped while I was in the shower.” Steve blushed and ducked his head, trying to evade Danny’s gaze.

“I don’t know.” Steve shrugged.

Danny kneeled and reached for the lube, slicking his fingers. He brushed them across Steve’s hole, slowly pressing one finger and then two and three into Steve’s body. Steve writhed underneath him, broken moans bubbling from him, his legs twitching. Unable to stand another moment, Danny wiped his fingers on the sheet and reached for the condom. Steve batted Danny’s hand away and sat up. Taking the condom from Danny’s fingers, he struggled to rip the foil packet his fingers were shaking so much, but as he pulled it from the packet, he dropped the packet on the floor beside the bed. Reaching for Danny, he wrapped his large hand around Danny’s cock and stroked it once, twice, and then expertly slipped the condom onto Danny’s penis, not expecting the string of expletives that toppled from his partner’s mouth. 

“Do you kiss your mother with that mouth, D?” Steve smiled as he leaned in to kiss Danny.

“Do not speak about my mother while we are in bed, Steven.” Danny groaned.

Pushing Steve back onto his back, Danny paused for just a moment to spread a glob of lube across the condom and pressed Steve back into the mattress. Reaching between them, Danny positioned himself and slowly pushed into his partner’s tight channel. Inch by inch he pushed into Steve’s body until he was seated completely within him.

“Babe?” Danny almost grunted.

“D?” Steve’s voice was filled with something that could only be called wonder.

“I’m not going to last long.” Danny could barely get the words out as he struggled to maintain his own control.

“Don’t wait for me.” Steve hissed as he moved his hips, pressing his lips into Danny’s shoulder. He lifted his legs and wrapped them high around Danny’s hips, tilting his hips up and making Danny sink deeper into his body. 

“Babe, what are you doing?” He leaned into Steve, resting his weight on his hands on either side of Steve and thrust into him.

“Rocking your world.” Steve groaned.

“Supposed to be for you.” Danny moaned as Steve undulated underneath him.

“Nope.” Steve answered as he flipped Danny onto his back and started to slowly rock, rising and falling on Danny’s dick.

Taking the bulk of his weight on his knees, Steve let his fingers trail teasingly over the hair on Danny’s chest. 

“Our world, D.” Steve breathed on a sigh. Danny’s cock was rubbing back and forth on a spot deep in his body that was causing what felt like electric shocks to pulse through his body. 

“Babe.” Danny grunted with every thrust, barely able to grab hold of the few unravelling threads of his control. “Can’t. Hold. On.”  
Steve’s only response was to reach for Danny’s hand and place it on his cock. Folding it over his throbbing flesh, he wrapped his own hand over Danny’s. Stroking himself faster, he rocked and clenched over Danny, willing his lover to fall apart in his arms. Reaching the limits of his own control, he tilted his head back and bellowed to the heavens as his orgasm ripped through his body, his semen pulsing in milky streaks across Danny’s furry chest. His body clenching around Danny’s cock cut the final thread of Danny’s control. His hands clamped on Steve’s hips, his fingers pressing bruises into the pale skin and he pounded furiously up into Steve’s body, three, four, five times before his body erupted inside the tight channel. Steve fell boneless against Danny’s chest, his heart pounding furiously as he struggled to calm his breathing, his whole body trembling. Danny closed his arms around Steve and held him tightly.

Danny rolled onto his side. Reaching between them, he removed the condom and dropped it onto the floor behind him. His fingers stroked aimlessly across Steve’s upper back, listening as Steve’s breathing evened out and then dissolved into slow snuffling against his chest. His fingers lifted to brush through Steve’s hair, savouring the small moments of comfort that they could bring each other. He had really thought that they had lost each other. He could feel the oxygen thinning in the tank that had been his lifeline, he knew his time was up; oddly calm in the darkening water, his only thoughts were of Steve. He had spent what felt like days under the water, staring into the milky white eyes of Ed’s partner Leon, and without having to be told, Danny knew that the ghostly shapes he could see on other pylons were the non-military parts of the other missing couples.

The memory of seeing Ed’s body impaled at their crime scene was imprinted on his head and he was sure that Steve would be enduring similar treatment. That was the worst part of the whole ordeal; he knew that Steve wouldn’t give in, wouldn’t back down, he’d seen it happen before. Steve would push himself past insanity, past exhaustion, to save his friends, his family, innocents. The only thing that would stop Steve would be death, and as much as Danny wanted to grow old with Steve, he couldn’t bear being the reason his Steve’s life was extinguished. Just as he was sure that he was taking his last shallow breath, Steve had tumbled into the water in front of him. Not with his usual grace for sure, so Danny had known he was hurting and badly, but still he hadn’t given up, he’d breathed for both of them, for as long as it took. His arms tightened around Steve as he slept against him.

Even as much as he hated Drew Liahoka, the perp that Steve refused to acknowledge, he couldn’t help but be a tiny bit thankful to him. Without him, they wouldn’t have had the impetus that drew Steve and Danny into a charade marriage, which had inevitably morphed into the very real, very emotional relationship that they were now in. Danny wasn’t sure how it was going to evolve, but he wasn’t going to give up on them in any way. He knew when they got back to their jobs and their real world, there was going to be so many issues, all brought to the fore by the case they had just wrapped. Steve was definitely not in a good place mentally, he was not his authoritative, self-confident SEAL self. His predilection to tears and second guessing his every move was definitely out of character and a worry to both Danny and the rest of the team, but Steve had opened up to him so much since the case that Danny was sure that, with time and therapy, Steve would come out the other side a stronger better man, especially with Danny by his side the whole way. Himself? He felt like he’d come out of their ordeal relatively unscathed. He only had two new hang ups. He couldn’t bear to let his new husband out of his sight for more than a few minutes. He was starting to feel like a puppy the way he couldn’t help himself; when Steve left the room, it was only moments before he got up and followed him. If Steve had noticed, he hadn’t said anything.

Which brought him to his biggest problem. His dislike of the water? It had morphed into a blinding, numbing terror that stole the moisture from his mouth and any semblance of self-control from his person. He wasn’t sure he could even sit in a bathtub again, let alone let the water from the ocean cover as little as his feet again. He hadn’t realised it until Steve had gone for a gentle swim one morning at home. Danny had followed him down to the beach, his throat had tightened the nearer he got to the water. His skin had prickled into chicken flesh and his breath had come in short gasping pants. He hadn’t even made it to their Adirondacks; his knees had buckled and he had sat in a quivering heap in the middle of the grassy lawn.

It took long moments for him to get himself together and he had picked himself up, moving only as far as a bench seat on the lanai, where still trembling fingers dialled Max’s number and chatted briefly with their resident ‘doctor’ before pushing his phone back to his pocket and watching Steve closely. That was how their mornings continued until they had left on their honeymoon. Steve hadn’t noticed that Danny never left the lanai anymore, or if he had, he hadn’t said anything. Danny knew this was going to be a problem for them, a big problem. Steve drew so much comfort from the water, they’d always joked that he was part fish, but it was really about comfort and healing. Anyone who really knew Steve could see that, and now Danny couldn’t even look at a large body of water without hyperventilating. 

“Thinking too much, D.” Steve’s voice was muffled against his shoulder.

“You’re supposed to be sleeping.” Danny spoke into is ruffled hair.

“Someone woke me up thinking too hard.” His voice slurred sleepily.

“I’m sorry.” Danny kissed the top of his head.

Steve’s hand trailed down Danny’s belly, gently cupping Danny’s cock. “Can I help?”

Danny caught Steve’s hand in his own and lifted it up to his mouth kissing the palm and holding it against his heart.

“Not now, babe.” Danny breathed against his face.

“You don’t want to?” Steve lifted his head to look into Danny’s eyes, his insecurities surfacing.

“I always want to, you great big goof.” Danny stroked his thumb across Steve’s palm as he watched him. “But today was a big day for both of us. Don’t think I didn’t notice that your leg was twinging. We can rest now and later we’ll call room service and we can eat and see where we go from there.”

“Aloha No Au Ia ’Oe.” Steve whispered against Danny’s skin.

“Aloha Aku No, Aloha Mai No.” Danny returned quickly, enjoy the stunned look on Steve’s face as he heard the words.

“Did you just speak Hawaiian?”

“I couldn’t think of any other way to truly prove to you how much I love you.” Danny shrugged.

Steve’s eyes glistened, his lashes wet with emotion as his thumb traced Danny’s bottom lip.

“Chin has been schooling me for a month now.” Danny explained and waited for that information to sink in.

“We only caught that case less than three weeks ago.” Steve frowned.

“I know.”

“You were always going to….”

“It was killing me by inches not being with you. The women I dated didn’t even come close to being an acceptable replacement for you.”

“I cut things off with Cath, intimate things, before she stayed in Afghanistan. I wanted you too much to really want her. It wasn’t fair to her.”

“We’ve been idiots.” Danny agreed, “But now we’re here,and I’m never giving up on you no matter how much of a goof you are.”

“E hoomau Maua Kealoha, Kane male.” Steve whispered as he pressed his face back into Danny’s shoulder, his eyes drifting closed in contentment. Danny, more content with his thoughts, rolled a little and hooked his leg over Steve’s thighs, his free hand gripping Steve’s hand tighter, his own eyes drifting closed.


End file.
